The year-end Chiayi County magistrate election has turned into a duel between two politicians in their forties, both from established political families. For the Green camp it is a battle to defend its turf; for the non-Green camp it is a rare chance to overturn 25 years of one-party rule.

• Democratic Progressive Party legislator Tsai Yi-yu is up against independent Puzi City Mayor Wu Pin-jui, and both come from political dynasties.
• Tsai has served as a legislator for ten years and has brought the party's internal factions together, giving him the edge in organisation and resources. His main pitch is to carry on the agriculture-industry-technology agenda of incumbent magistrate Weng Chang-liang.
• Wu only decided to run in July and got off to a slow start, but he is banking on uniting Kuomintang and independent forces to achieve a change of ruling party. His biggest record in office is turning Puzi City's treasury from debt into surplus.
• The Green camp has governed Chiayi County for a long time, and locals worry that the lack of competition is making governance rigid and skewing the allocation of resources towards particular townships.

Outlook: as the campaign enters its final stage, it comes back to a head-to-head contest between the Green and non-Green camps, and the outcome hinges on whether the non-Green camp can genuinely hold its alliance together to the end.