The Kuomintang (KMT) has launched a nationwide tour of campaign rallies pushing to abolish the nuclear-free homeland policy, even as fresh polls show the party trailing badly in both the Taipei and Tainan races.

• The KMT's Youth Department held its first referendum rally in Yuanlin, Changhua, arguing that Taiwan relies too heavily on imported coal and natural gas for electricity. It called for scrapping the nuclear-free homeland policy to make power supply more stable, saying whether the semiconductor and AI industries stay in Taiwan depends on having a sufficiently reliable power supply.

• Polling for the Tainan mayoral race shows Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Chen Ting-fei with a commanding lead over KMT candidate Hsieh Lung-chieh, a gap of nearly 37 percentage points, with her favorability rating also far ahead.

• Polling for the Taipei mayoral race is likewise unfavorable for the KMT, with DPP candidate Shen Bo-yang leading incumbent Mayor Chiang Wan-an by 17 percentage points. Party insiders worry the race is in serious trouble and are urging Chiang to drop his cautious approach and campaign all-out.

• Chiang Wan-an stated clearly for the first time that he will take leave starting November 12 to campaign full-time, and pledged to serve out his full four-year term as mayor, in an effort to put to rest speculation that he might abandon the race partway through or that this is positioning for a 2028 run.

Outlook: With just over a month left before the election, whether the KMT can use the energy issue to boost momentum and turn around its poor standing in the Taipei and Tainan polls will be a key thing to watch as the campaign continues.