The battle lines for Taiwan's year-end local government head elections are taking shape, with several DPP candidates appearing together at a campaign event in a relaxed atmosphere that nonetheless carried a strong electoral undertone.

• Puma Shen, the DPP's candidate for Taipei mayor, and Su Chiao-hui, its candidate for New Taipei mayor, jointly formed a lawyers' support group.
• Taoyuan mayoral candidate Huang Shih-chieh and Yilan county magistrate candidate Lin Kuo-chang attended in support, amounting to a first joint showing of the party's northern Taiwan line-up.
• All four are graduates of the same university's law department, and Su Chiao-hui posted about their classmate ties from twenty years ago.
• Former President Tsai Ing-wen commented, "All four of you have to call me senior," pushing the post into wide online discussion.
• Netizens joked that it was "an early mayoral class reunion," which also helped build momentum for the four candidates' campaigns.

Outlook: The DPP's line-up for local government head races in northern Taiwan is now largely settled, and the campaign will next move into the phase of formal electoral mobilisation.