The 2008 Democratic Progressive Party chairmanship election took place on May 18, 2008. The election date was announced by chairperson

Frank Hsieh Frank Hsieh Chang-ting (; born May 18, 1946) is a Taiwanese politician and former defense attorney. A cofounder of the Democratic Progressive Party, he has served on the Taipei City Council, the Legislative Yuan, as the mayor of Kaohsiung City ...

after losing the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pr ...

Candidates

Three members expressed their desire to run for the position:

Chai Trong-rong

Chai Trong-rong, first president of the

World United Formosans for Independence The World United Formosans for Independence (WUFI) is an organization promoting Taiwan independence. It was established in 1970 by like-minded organizations in Canada, the U.S., Japan, Europe, and Taiwan. Its aim is to establish a Republic of ...

and former legislator, announced his candidacy on April 14, 2008. He withdrew from the election on May 12 and endorsed candidate Koo Kwang-ming.

Koo Kwang-ming

Tsai Ing-wen

Tsai Ing-wen Tsai Ing-wen (; born 31 August 1956) is a Taiwanese politician serving as president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 2016. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Tsai is the first female president of Taiwan. She served a ...

, former vice premier and former chairperson of the

Mainland Affairs Council The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) is a cabinet-level administrative agency under the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China in Taiwan. The MAC is responsible for the planning, development, and implementation of the cross-strait relations po ...

, won support from many local executives and decided to launch her campaign. She earned endorsements from

Chiayi County Chiayi County (Mandarin pinyin: ''jiā yì xiàn''; Hokkien POJ: ''Ka-gī-koān'') is a county in southwestern Taiwan surrounding but not including Chiayi City. It is the sixth largest county in Taiwan. Name The former Chinese placename was ...

magistrate

Chen Ming-wen Chen Ming-wen (; born 13 May 1955) is a Taiwanese politician. He was the Chiayi County Magistrate from 2001 to 2009, until his election to the Legislative Yuan, where he has served since 2008. Career In 1977, upon his graduation from National ...

, Kaohsiung mayor

Chen Chu Chen Chu or Kiku Chen (; born 10 June 1950) is the current President of the Control Yuan and Chair of the National Human Rights Commission. Before assuming her current post, Chen had served as Secretary-General to the President from 2018 to ...

, Tainan County magistrate Su Huan-chih, and

Yunlin County Yunlin County (Mandarin pinyin: ''Yúnlín Xiàn''; Taigi POJ: ''Hûn-lîm-koān''; Hakka PFS: ''Yùn-lìm-yen'') is a county in western Taiwan. Yunlin County borders the Taiwan Strait to the west, Nantou County to the east, Changhua County to ...

magistrate

Su Chih-fen Su Chih-fen (; born 10 July 1953) is a Taiwanese politician. She was the Magistrate of Yunlin County from 20 December 2005 until 25 December 2014. Yunlin County Magistrate Yunlin County Magistrate election Su was elected as the Magistrate of ...

Issues

Reorganization of factions

Koo's controversial remarks

Results

References

{{Democratic Progressive Party Chairmanship Elections 2008 elections in Taiwan Democratic Progressive Party chairmanship elections Democratic Progressive Party chairmanship election