A corruption investigation into farm road contracts is rattling the KMT's grip on Taitung county, bad news for county council speaker Wu Hsiu-hua as she registers to run for county chief.

• Prosecutors have jailed two county officials and an aide to Wu, and searched the offices and homes of seven county councillors.
• The case centers on a resort development's farm road deal, with claims that county and council resources were used to funnel public money.
• The Wu family has run Taitung politics for years and controls the local KMT branch, so the probe cuts at the party's core machine.
• Swing voters, young returnees and newcomers are turning off, and some local vote brokers are keeping their distance out of fear.
• Wu has shifted from silence to "let the courts decide" to attacking the probe as political persecution, which could rally the base instead.

Outlook: If prosecutors cannot show hard evidence of money changing hands soon, the KMT will likely frame the case as pre-election meddling and hold the seat anyway.