Democratic Progressive Party Hsinchu County magistrate candidate Cheng Chao-fang has completed his registration to run, campaigning on replicating Zhubei City's governance record across the entire county and mounting a direct challenge to the KMT-governed Hsinchu County.

• Cheng Chao-fang has put forward the slogan "the Zhubei experience, delivered for Hsinchu County," seeking to extend Zhubei's governing experience to all 13 townships and cities in the county.
• Transport is the centrepiece: county-level commuter and school routes, pushing for a second Hukou interchange on National Freeway No. 1 and an Erchong interchange on National Freeway No. 3, free YouBike for the first 30 minutes, and AI smart traffic signals.
• On daily life and education, he is emphasising parent-child centres, green space and parks, distinctive libraries, and improvements to traditional markets and the pedestrian environment, along with adding more complete secondary schools and easing teachers' administrative burden.
• His platform also covers social welfare and long-term care, youth entrepreneurship, childcare and early intervention, tourism, and industrial development.
• KMT candidate Hsu Hsin-ying is scheduled to register tomorrow, accompanied by party chair Cheng Li-wun and incumbent magistrate Yang Wen-ke.

Outlook: The Hsinchu County magistrate race is now set as a blue-green contest, with the coming exchanges likely to focus on the urban-rural development gap and transport infrastructure.