The blue-green battle in Taiwan's Yilan County magistrate election has begun, with both major camps rallying votes on the same day as the race gradually heats up.

• Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an went canvassing in Yilan's Luodong to campaign for Kuomintang candidate Wu Tsung-hsien, stressing that if both are elected they will promote "mutual prosperity between Taipei and Yilan."
• Chiang played the emotional card, saying he is a Luodong son-in-law and that Yilan is like home to him, and throwing his support behind Wu Tsung-hsien as a hardworking local.
• Democratic Progressive Party candidate Lin Kuo-chang launched a labour support group the same day, highlighting his working-class family background and pledging that, if elected, he would look after grassroots workers and be a "magistrate for all."
• Chiang arrived nearly an hour late due to traffic in the Hsuehshan Tunnel, becoming a minor flashpoint in the long-distance sparring between the blue and green camps, with Lin Kuo-chang quipping that he could tell Chiang which times avoid the congestion.

Outlook: With the campaign entering its final vote-canvassing sprint, the blue and green camps will continue to compete on local groundwork and on issues such as labour and transport.