KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun sought to placate the three contenders who lost the party's nomination in Changhua, only to draw a public rebuke from one of them — a sign that lingering resentment over the nomination process remains among the party's grassroots, and not good news for unity ahead of the election.

• Cheng Li-wun appeared in Changhua for the fourth time in three weeks to campaign for county magistrate candidate Wei Ping-cheng, describing Hsieh I-fong, Ko Cheng-fang and Hung Jung-chang as all being "treasures of the KMT."
• Former Changhua deputy magistrate Ko Cheng-fang hit back on Facebook that night, saying treasures should not be remembered only after the nomination is over, and that respect should not be merely a matter of words.
• Ko Cheng-fang stressed that what concerned him was not personal gain or loss, but whether the party leadership had made good on its promise to "respect local voices."
• Comments on the post included calls for him to "run to the end" or even to leave the party and run independently, while others urged him to put unity first — a clear split among supporters.

Outlook: Changhua is seen as a must-win battleground, and the party leadership will inevitably have to spend more effort in the near term mollifying the losing camps, or grassroots mobilisation could suffer.