Changhua County's three candidates for magistrate have locked in their registration dates, but only one campaign has its leadership team in place — a sign of unequal readiness ahead of Taiwan's year-end local elections.

• The DPP's Chen Su-yueh registers Sept. 2; the KMT's Wei Ping-cheng and independent Chiu Chien-fu both register Sept. 3, with the official window running Aug. 31 to Sept. 4.
• Chen's campaign is fully staffed, with a national policy adviser as chairman and a former legislator as chief executive.
• Wei's campaign still has no chairman after incumbent magistrate Wang Hui-mei declined the job, leaving the KMT effort visibly behind.
• Chiu is skipping a single chairman entirely and running a ten-person joint leadership group instead.
• Wei's registration date at least kills months of rumors that the KMT would swap him out.

Outlook: Watch whether Wang Hui-mei shows up alongside Wei on Sept. 3 after returning from an overseas trip — her absence would signal continued KMT infighting with under 100 days to the vote.