Taiwan's 2026 local elections are closing in, but the Tainan mayor's race is unusually flat — a sign of comfort for the ruling DPP and a problem for the KMT challenger.

• The DPP's Chen Ting-fei is campaigning the way she always has: small local events, community visits, almost no big rallies.
• The KMT's Hsieh Lung-chieh is barely seen in Tainan itself, running mostly online and even holding his campaign fundraiser up in New Taipei.
• Polls show Chen far ahead, and Hsieh is leaning on corruption attacks plus a promise not to seek a second term to shake up 33 years of DPP rule in the city.
• Chen has spent the time since the primary knitting the party's rival factions together, winning backing from groups that once lined up behind her opponents.
• Hsieh's call for a "blue-white" tie-up with the TPP has drawn mixed reactions from local KMT councillors, so its payoff is unclear.

Outlook: Barring a shift, Chen goes into the final stretch as the clear favorite, with the blue-white question the main thing left that could change the math.