The budget battle in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan has spilled over into the year-end local elections, with KMT candidates being pressed to publicly distance themselves from controversial legislator Weng Hsiao-ling — bad news for the party's electoral prospects.

• KMT legislator Weng Hsiao-ling spearheaded deep cuts to the Presidential Office's state affairs fund, resulting in the cancellation of 15,000 Mid-Autumn Festival gift box orders from 37 sheltered workshops across Taiwan, sparking public anger.
• DPP caucus whip Chuang Jui-hsiung has called on KMT legislators returning to their home districts to run for mayor or county magistrate — including Ko Chih-en and Chiang Chi-chen — to answer whether they want to be one of the "113 Weng Hsiao-lings" she herself described.
• The DPP's central message is that the budget cuts were not the work of one person, but the result of the KMT caucus collectively pressing the voting buttons time and again.
• Switching electoral districts means switching campaign vests, but it cannot erase the voting record in the Legislative Yuan — and that record will become a key battleground in the local elections.

Outlook: This accountability fight over "Weng Hsiao-ling-style politics" will continue burning through to the November 28 polling day, and KMT candidates will inevitably have to choose between distancing themselves from her and coming to her defence.