The 2020 Kaohsiung mayoral by-election was held on 15 August 2020 following a successful recall attempt. The registered candidates were
Chen Chi-mai
Chen Chi-mai (; born December 23, 1964) is a Taiwanese politician and the current Mayor of Kaoshiung since August 24, 2020. He has served as spokesperson of the Democratic Progressive Party and the chief executive officer of its Policy Research ...
representing the Democratic Progressive Party, Li Mei-jhen representing the Kuomintang, and Wu Yi-jheng representing the Taiwan People's Party. Chen Chi-mai won the by-election by a landslide margin with slightly over 70 percent of the votes. He replaced acting mayor on 24 August 2020.
Han Kuo-yu
Daniel Han Kuo-yu (; born 17 June 1957) is a Taiwanese politician. He was a member of the Legislative Yuan from 1993 to 2002, representing a portion of Taipei County for three terms. He later became general manager of Taipei Agricultural Produc ...
on 6 June 2020. By law, the Central Election Commission (CEC) was mandated to announce the results of the recall vote within seven days of the vote itself. The law also required the CEC to hold a by-election no later than 11 September 2020, three months after the results of the recall were publicly announced. The CEC confirmed the result on 12 June and announced that the by-election would be held on 15 August.
Procedures and timetable
Han Kuo-yu is barred, by law, from contesting the Kaohsiung mayoralty for four years as a result of the successful recall petition.
Registration of candidates took place between 20 June and 24 June. The sole debate between all three candidates took place on 1 August. Municipal infrastructure was discussed.
Chen Chi-mai
Chen Chi-mai (; born December 23, 1964) is a Taiwanese politician and the current Mayor of Kaoshiung since August 24, 2020. He has served as spokesperson of the Democratic Progressive Party and the chief executive officer of its Policy Research ...
was nominated as the DPP candidate for the by-election. On 23 June 2020, the Kuomintang selected
Kaohsiung City Council
Kaohsiung City Council () is the city council of Kaohsiung City, Republic of China. It is currently composed of 65 councilors, each serving a four-year term, elected using the single non-transferable vote system. Speaker and deputy speaker of ...
lor Li Mei-jhen to contest the by-election. Following the Kuomintang's announcement, , a city councilor affiliated with the People First Party, joined the Taiwan People's Party to represent the TPP in the by-election.
Opinion polling
Results
Chen Chi-mai won 671,804 of the votes cast on 15 August 2020, a vote share of 70.03%. Li Mei-jhen finished second with 248,478 votes or 25.9%. Wu Yi-jhen claimed 4.06% of the vote, a total of 38,960 ballots. Voter turnout was 41.83%. The Central Election Commission certified Chen's electoral victory on 21 August 2020. On 24 August 2020, Chen replaced acting mayor .