2007 Keelung mayoral by-election



2007 Keelung mayoral by-election was held on 12 May 2007, three months after the death of incumbent mayor Hsu Tsai-li. Chang Tong-rong from the Kuomintang (KMT) defeated the other four candidates and held the mayorship for the party with 47% of votes.

Background
One of the strongholds of Kuomintang, Keelung had been led by Hsu Tsai-li since 2001 after re-elected in 2005. However, Hsu was sentenced to 7 years in jail for corruption in 2006. Although resisting pressure for his resignation, Hsu was expelled from the party and recall petition was gaining momentum.

On 19 February 2007, Hsu died suddenly of blood poisoning, aged 60. A by-election was therefore triggered to elect a new mayor for the remaining two-year term of office. Hsu Ching-kun, Secretary General of the Government, became acting mayor, followed by appointment by Ministry of the Interior of former deputy mayor Chen Chong-guan as another acting mayor.

Candidates
Chang Tong-rong, Speaker of Keelung City Council and long-time City Councillor, was endorsed by the KMT after winning the opinion poll of the party. However, the split within the Pan-Blue Coalition and the failed co-operation between the Kuomintang and People First Party (PFP) prompted Liu Wen-hsiung, PFP member of the Legislative Yuan, to run as an independent.

Another City Councillor Shih Shih-ming represented Democratic Progressive Party, then the ruling party in the central government, in the election, and was backed by party seniors including Chen Shui-bian, Frank Hsieh, and Su Tseng-chang during the campaign.

Two other independents ran in the election also.