Severe Factional War and Political Infighting: DPP Tainan Mayoral Primary Defeat and Representative Lin Chun-hsien's Hostile Campaign Controversy

On January 15, 2026, the results of the DPP Tainan mayoral primary were officially released, revealing that Representative Lin Chun-hsien had lost the nomination to his fellow DPP rival Chen Ting-fei by a margin of 58.16% to 60.85%, halting his mayoral ambitions. The months-long primary campaign, however, triggered a historically hostile factional war that severely divided local grassroots supporters. During the campaign, Lin's camp leveraged the massive resources of the "New潮流" (Lai faction) to launch an overwhelming advertising billboard campaign against Chen, digging up past council running-vote scandals from 2018 and publicly accusing Chen of collaborating with the KMT to disrupt local meetings. Chen strongly counterattacked, accusing Lin's camp of malicious smearing. The bitter, cutthroat internal fight completely consumed political trust in Tainan, provoking deep disgust among grassroots voters who criticized the ruling party for focusing entirely on power grabs while neglecting local livelihoods and infrastructure.