Changhua County magistrate candidate Chen Su-yueh is pitching a jobs-and-welfare platform aimed at stopping young people from leaving the county — a bid to turn low pay and an aging population into her central campaign issue.

• Chen, a sitting DPP lawmaker, wants to pull in big tech manufacturers and push traditional factories to modernize, creating what she calls a "twin engine" of old industry and tech.
• Low wages, an aging population, and people moving away are the county's core problem — Changhua is the most populous area outside Taiwan's six special municipalities, but growth has stalled.
• Her welfare offer: free national health insurance for people over 65, and cash for births — rising sharply for a second and third child.
• Transport is the third leg: elevating Changhua City's railway and extending Taichung's MRT green line into the county, plus expanded urban planning on the city's east side.
• The DPP moved its Central Standing Committee meeting to Changhua and put fellow lawmakers on stage with her, a show of party unity behind the campaign.

Outlook: Expect the race to be fought on wages and youth retention, with Chen betting that industrial upgrading plus welfare spending outbids neighboring counties.