The dispute over the Kuomintang's nomination for Changhua County magistrate is escalating — bad news for both incumbent magistrate Wang Huei-mei and party chair Cheng Li-wun, and a further blow to the pan-blue camp's electoral prospects.

• Former Changhua County magistrate Cho Po-yuan said the party's central leadership forced a candidate on the county without properly consulting Wang Huei-mei, which amounts to bullying her and bullying Changhua's grassroots.
• Cho revealed that Wei Ping-cheng, the nominee, has received almost no political donations, with none of the money he was originally promised having come in, leaving him struggling in the campaign.
• In the polls, the Democratic Progressive Party's Chen Su-yueh leads Wei Ping-cheng by a wide margin of 17 percentage points.
• He suggested conducting another integrated poll before registration, with the top vote-getter representing the Kuomintang and the others jointly assisting the campaign.
• Cho warned that the Kuomintang faces a "three plus three" crisis in the magistrate races: Changhua, Chiayi City and Yilan are extremely precarious, while Hsinchu County, New Taipei and Taitung are toss-ups.

Outlook: If the party's central leadership does not conduct new polling and adjust its candidate, Changhua could well be lost, and Cheng Li-wun would face pressure to take political responsibility.