The race for Miaoli county chief is shaping up as an uphill fight for the challenger, with the sitting KMT magistrate holding a clear edge in a county that has long leaned blue.

• Incumbent Chung Tung-chin is running on delivered promises — welfare, roads, schools, hospitals and elderly care — after county finances improved.
• He also controls local factions and administrative resources, and keeps a working alliance with the TPP to lock in a second term.
• Challenger Chen Pin-an, a lawyer and two-term county councilor, is touring all 18 townships to build name recognition.
• Chen is chasing young tech-worker votes in Toufen and Zhunan and courting independents, with backing from President Lai Ching-te.
• Chen is pitching central-government projects — new highway interchanges and a hospital expansion — plus a plan for Miaoli's shaky finances and shrinking population.

Outlook: Chung starts as the favorite, and Chen's path depends on turning cross-party cooperation and central funding promises into actual votes in the county's growing northern towns.