Local elections were held in Taiwan on 5 December 2009 to elect magistrates of
counties
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
and mayors of
cities
A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
, councillors in county/city councils, and mayors of
townships and
county-administered cities, known as the ''three-in-one elections'' (). The elections were not held in the
special municipalities of
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung, officially Kaohsiung City, is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsiung City has a population of approximately 2.73 million p ...
and
Taipei
, nickname = The City of Azaleas
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, map_caption =
, pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth
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as well as the counties and cities that were set to be reform as special municipalities in 2010, including
Taipei County
New Taipei City is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality located in regions of Taiwan, northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 4,004,367 as of January 2023, making it the most populous city in Taiwan, a ...
,
Taichung County
Taichung County was a County (Taiwan), county in central Taiwan between 1945 and 2010. The county seat was in Yuanlin Township before 1950 and Fengyuan District, Fongyuan City after 1950.
History
Taichung County was established on 26 November ...
,
Taichung City,
Tainan County
Tainan County was a County (Taiwan), county in southern Taiwan between 1945 and 2010. The county seat was in Xinying District, Sinying City.
History
Tainan County was established on 7 January 1946 on the territory of Tainan Prefecture () sh ...
,
Tainan City, or
Kaohsiung County
Kaohsiung County was a county in southern Taiwan between 1945 and 2010. The county seat was located in Fongshan City.
History
Kaohsiung County was established on 6 December 1945 on the territory of Takao Prefecture () shortly after the end ...
. The new formed municipalities has their elections in
2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
.
[ELECTIONS: ANALYSIS: KMT’s lackluster performance seen as warning to Ma](_blank)
''Taipei Times
The ''Taipei Times'' is an English-language print newspaper in Taiwan published by the Liberty Times Group. Founded as the third English-language newspaper on 15 June 1999, it is currently the last surviving English-language print newspaper i ...
'', 6 December 2009.
Election summaries
Magistrate and mayor elections
In the elections held for the 17 posts of county magistrates and city mayors, the
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...
(KMT) won control of 12 Counties and Cities, the
Democratic Progressive Party
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a centre to centre-left Taiwanese nationalist political party in Taiwan. As the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition, one of the two main political camps in Taiwan, the DPP is currently the ...
(DPP) won control of 4 Counties, while the remaining county,
Hualien, was won by an independent candidate.
The DPP won 1,982,914 votes, or 45.32 per cent, which was a substantial increase from its 41.95 per cent in the
2005 elections. On the other hand, the KMT received 2,094,518 votes, or 47.87 percent, which was less than the 50.96 percent it won in the
2005 elections of 23 county magistrates and city mayors.
The KMT's traditional strongholds of Northern Taiwan was maintained, although its complete dominance in Northern Taiwan, was terminated when DPP candidate won the Election for the
Yilan County Magistrate by a large margin.
[KMT loses luster in local elections](_blank)
'' Taiwan Today'', 7 December 2009. However, this north-eastern county was once a DPP stronghold for more than two decades until KMT incumbent Lu Kuo-hua, won power four years ago.
In
Keelung City and
Hsinchu City
Hsinchu (, ), officially Hsinchu City, is a Provincial city (Taiwan), city located in northwestern Taiwan. It is the most populous city in Taiwan that is not a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality, with estimated 450,655 inha ...
the KMT incumbent Mayors won by a considerable margin, although in
Taoyuan County
Taoyuan County () is under the administration of Changde, Hunan, Hunan Province, China. The Yuan River, a tributary of the Yangtze, flows through Taoyuan. It covers an area of 4441 square kilometers, of which is arable land. It is from Zhangji ...
, the KMT candidate won by an unexpectedly narrow margin.
[Central Election Commission Election Database](_blank)
The fiercely contested position for
Hsinchu County
Hsinchu is a County (Taiwan), county in Regions of Taiwan, north-western Taiwan. The population of the county is mainly Hakka people, Hakka; with a Taiwanese aboriginal minority in the southeastern part of the county. Zhubei is the county seat ...
Magistrate, was eventually won by a KMT candidate who received 38% of the vote, whilst the DPP candidate garnered 31%, and an independent candidate received 30%.
In Central Taiwan, all four of the incumbent Magistrates secured their second term. In the traditionally Pan-Blue stronghold of
Miaoli County
Miaoli is a county (Taiwan), county in western Taiwan. Miaoli is bordered by Hsinchu County and Hsinchu City to the north, Taichung to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the west. Miaoli is Regions of Taiwan, classified as "central Taiwan" by t ...
, the KMT incumbent Magistrate won his second term with a large margin of approximately 30% of the votes.
While in
Changhua County
Changhua (Wade-Giles: ''Chang¹-hua⁴'') is a Taiwanese County (Taiwan), county that is the smallest on the Geography of Taiwan, main island of Taiwan by area, and the fourth smallest in the country. With a total population of 1.24 million, Chan ...
and
Nantou County
Nantou is the second largest County (Taiwan), county of Taiwan by area, located in the central part of the country. It is also the only non-coastal county in Taiwan. Its name derives from the Hoanya people, Hoanya Taiwanese aborigines, Taiwanese ...
, the KMT incumbent Magistrates both gained just over 50% of the votes, to secure their second terms.
In
Yunlin County, the DPP incumbent Magistrate gained nearly twice the number of votes as her opposition KMT candidate to secure her second term.
The DPP maintained its traditional strongholds of Southern Taiwan, winning both
Chiayi County
Chiayi is a County (Taiwan), county in Taiwan. Located in Regions of Taiwan, southwestern Taiwan surrounding but not including Chiayi City, it is the sixth largest county in the island of Taiwan. Its major tourist destination is Alishan Natio ...
and
Pingtung County
Pingtung () is a County (Taiwan), county located in southern Taiwan. It has a warm tropical monsoon climate and is known for its agriculture and tourism. Kenting National Park, Taiwan's oldest national park, is located in the county. The county ...
by a great margin of 15% and 20% respectively.
The KMT incumbent Mayor of
Chiayi City won her second term by an unexpectedly narrow margin of 8000 votes.
In Eastern Taiwan, the KMT's candidate for
Taitung County
Taitung () is the third largest county in Taiwan, located primarily on the island's southeastern coast and also including Green Island, Orchid Island and Lesser Orchid Island. The seat is located in Taitung City.
Name
While its name means "East ...
Magistrate won the DPP's candidate by less 6000 votes, whilst
Hualien County
Hualien () is a County (Taiwan), county on the east coast of Taiwan. It is Taiwan's largest county by area, yet due to its mountainous terrain, has one of the lowest populations in the country. The county seat and largest city is Hualien City. Hu ...
Magistrate was won by an Independent Candidate who gained more than twice the number of votes of his opposition KMT candidate. In the outlying islands, the incumbent Magistrate of
Penghu County
The Penghu ( , Hokkien POJ: ''Phîⁿ-ô͘'' or ''Phêⁿ-ô͘'' ) or Pescadores Islands are an archipelago of 90 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait, about west of the main island of Taiwan across the Penghu Channel, coveri ...
won the DPP's Candidate by less than 600 Votes, whilst in
Kinmen County
Kinmen, alternatively known as Quemoy, is a group of islands governed as a county by the Republic of China (Taiwan), only east from the city of Xiamen in Fujian, located at the southeastern coast of the People's Republic of China, from which ...
and
Lienchiang County, the KMT Candidates gained respectively 38% and 57% of the vote to win both posts.
Councillor elections
The KMT maintained its unchallenged majority in the county and city councilmen elections, winning 289 seats of the 17 County and City Councils. The DPP won 128 seats, the
Taiwan Solidarity Union
The Taiwan Solidarity Party (TSP) is a political party in Taiwan which advocates Taiwan independence, and is affiliated with the Taiwanese localization movement. It was officially founded on 12 August 2001 as the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU ...
won 3 seats, the
People First Party won 1 seat and the
Labor Party won 1 seat. The remaining 170 seats were won by independent candidates. The KMT won 43.94% of the votes, while the DPP won 24.42%.
Township Chiefs
The KMT maintained its unchallenged majority in the township chiefs elections, winning 121 posts. The DPP won 34 posts, while the remaining 56 posts were won by independent candidates. The KMT won 48.82% of the votes, while the DPP won 20.04%.
Results
Magistrate/mayor elections
Councillor elections
Township/city mayor elections
See also
*
Elections in Taiwan
Notes
References
External links
The Elections for Public Offices in Taiwan Elections Research Center, National Chengchi University.
{{Taiwan elections
2009
2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
2009 elections in Taiwan