The race for New Taipei mayor has entered its warm-up phase, with the two candidates from the blue and green camps campaigning all day over the weekend. The contest is heating up — good news for both sides.

• The Kuomintang's Li Si-chuan spent the morning in Keelung discussing MRT and family policies with Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang, then walked through the Sanxia evening market in the rain in the afternoon, attending five events in a single day.
• Li Si-chuan is campaigning on transport and the local economy, including extending the Shulin railway undergrounding project to Yingge, the Dahan River MRT line, and building a "New Taipei Dome City" to draw crowds for concerts and ball games.
• The Democratic Progressive Party's Su Chiao-hui established four pharmaceutical industry support groups, with policy proposals focused on drug supply allocation, subsidies for pharmacies, and additional pay for medical staff in remote areas.
• Su Chiao-hui stressed that her first large-scale rally the previous day drew more than 20,000 people, with Lai Ching-te, Tsai Ing-wen, and Chen Chi-mai all appearing in person to show support.
• Both candidates are playing the family card: Su Chiao-hui invited the Paper Windmill Theatre to perform, drawing parents and children who braved the rain to watch. Asked when her father, Su Tseng-chang, would appear alongside her, she said it was only natural for family members to attend together.

Looking ahead: With election day set for November 28, the two sides will keep raising the stakes over the next two months and more, competing both at the grassroots level and through large-scale rallies.