The Democratic Progressive Party's Lai Jui-lung has formally registered his candidacy for Kaohsiung mayor, bringing along incumbent mayor Chen Chi-mai and the full green-camp city council line-up to appear alongside him, in a show of party unity that projected largely positive momentum.

• Lai Jui-lung completed his registration accompanied by Chen Chi-mai, council speaker Kang Yu-cheng and a number of DPP city councillors.
• Chen Chi-mai publicly endorsed him, saying Kaohsiung has been on the right path for six years and the baton needs to be passed on to Lai Jui-lung.
• Lai Jui-lung is campaigning on "positivity, unity, professionalism, Kaohsiung first," with a policy direction of the rise of the south and going global.
• The previous day he had already formed a "Kaohsiung Grand Alliance" with 35 city councillors and candidates, aiming to win the mayoralty and a council majority.
• With just over 80 days left in the campaign, the green camp is seeking to hold on to the long-standing governing territory it has held since the days of Chen Chu and Frank Hsieh.

Outlook: Over the next 80-odd days, Lai Jui-lung will take the "Kaohsiung Grand Alliance" across all 38 districts, with the main battleground being whether he can capture both the mayoralty and a council majority.