Yu Shu-chen, the Kuomintang nominee and Ji’an Township head, leads the November 28, 2026 Hualien County Magistrate race with strong trader consensus behind her institutional party backing in a traditionally pan-blue county. The KMT selected her in March 2026 after an internal survey victory over rivals including former Hualien City Mayor Yeh Yao-hui, who contested the process. Recent polls, such as the August Storm Media survey, place her support near 30 percent ahead of independents Wei Chia-hsien and Chang Chun, with many undecided voters. Candidate registration closed in early September, and late-August probes into alleged vote-buying have not altered positioning. Hualien’s electoral dynamics, including the absence of a Democratic Progressive Party nominee and the term limit on incumbent Hsu Chen-wei, reinforce Yu’s frontrunner status ahead of the vote.