Registration closed for Taiwan's 2026 local elections, and Tainan's races are crowded even though the mood around the campaign is unusually flat.

• Four people signed up for Tainan mayor, led by a green-versus-blue matchup between the DPP's Chen Ting-fei and the KMT's Hsieh Lung-chieh.
• The two front-runners are barely attacking each other, and the campaign so far feels quiet.
• 88 people registered for 57 city council seats across 13 districts, with two districts drawing more than 10 candidates each.
• Several seats are passing from parents to children, and online influencers have jumped into the council races too.
• A sitting Indigenous council member abruptly dropped out and never filed to run again.

Outlook: Expect the crowded council districts to split votes in unpredictable ways, with the mayoral fight likely to stay low-key unless one side goes on the attack.