191 Candidates Join Pride Watch as Taiwan's Local Races Enter Final Month

191 Candidates Join Pride Watch as Taiwan's Local Races Enter Final Month

191 contenders put equality pledges on one map

Taiwan's 2026 "9-in-1" local elections will be held on Nov. 28, with voters in 22 cities and counties choosing candidates for nine local offices, including mayors, magistrates and councilors. On Oct. 27, the Taiwan Equality Campaign said 191 candidates for local offices had registered on its Pride Watch website to signal support for gender equality, according to reports by the Taipei Times and Focus Taiwan. The announcement came about a month before polling day, as campaigning enters its final stretch.

Registration means a questionnaire, not just a signature

After registering on Pride Watch, candidates must complete a "Friendly Candidate Questionnaire" stating their positions on gender-equality issues, the group said at a news conference. Candidates can also list their own gender-related pledges and past proposals, motions or interpellation records on the site, which presents them on an interactive Taiwan map. United Daily News reporting put the tally at 190 as of Oct. 26, including high-profile Taipei mayoral contenders Chiang Wan-an and Shen Po-yang, with more than half of all county and city chief contenders responding; the count was updated to 191 on Oct. 27.

An eight-year voter guide with six-figure readership

The group frames the project as everyday politics, not only national debate: a gender-friendly environment shows up in local daily life. Pride Watch was launched in 2018, and the group says page views before each election have exceeded 100,000. In the 2024 presidential and legislative elections, 103 candidates registered, including then-presidential and vice-presidential candidates Lai Ching-te and Hsiao Bi-khim. In the 2022 local elections, 245 candidates registered, of whom 87 were later elected as councilors.

From pledges to 233 motions and 104 questionings

The point, the organizers say, is follow-up. After the 2022 elections, the group stayed in contact with the 87 elected councilors and convened friendly-councilor gatherings in Taipei, New Taipei, Keelung, Taoyuan, Miaoli, Hsinchu County and City, Tainan and Kaohsiung, bringing local civic groups into policy discussion. Over the four-year term, those councilors produced at least 233 gender-related proposals and 104 interpellations, turning campaign statements into council business. The site also keeps a supervision record where citizens can log friendly or unfriendly words and acts by candidates.

Pride weekend sets the backdrop for the equality vote

The update landed days before the 24th Taiwan LGBT+ Pride Parade, scheduled for Oct. 31 in Taipei under the theme "Our Voices, Our Journey." Organized by the Taiwan Rainbow Civil Action Association, the parade is set to start in the afternoon at Taipei City Hall Square and split into northern and southern routes. Organizers have urged equality-minded voters to back candidates who support diverse communities and gender-equality policies, and said the group worked with 20 organizations on a Pride Month calendar. An earlier late-September tally cited 9 county and city chief contenders, 109 councilor contenders and 6 LGBTQ candidates expressing friendly positions. The Pride Watch list remains open, and voters can compare questionnaires, pledges and track records before casting ballots.