Taiwan's 2026 New Taipei mayoral campaign is heating up, with both major-party candidates spending the weekend on retail politics — neutral for now, but it signals a tight race in Taiwan's biggest city.

• KMT candidate Lee Szu-chuan worked a Banqiao market crowd and packed his day with community events.
• His pitch is infrastructure: a "New Taipei Dome," burying the Shulin rail line and extending it, plus a new metro line along the Dahan River.
• DPP candidate Su Chiao-hui launched a support group for New Taipei residents with roots in Chiayi County, promising to promote Chiayi farm goods and set up school-industry exchanges.
• Su leaned on Chiayi's tech credentials — TSMC advanced packaging and a drone industry cluster — as proof that good local leadership pays off.
• Lee also courted Hakka voters and a Buddhist foundation's Ghost Month ceremony, casting himself as an engineer who takes on hard jobs.

Outlook: Expect both camps to keep grinding through grassroots events as the campaign builds toward the 2026 local elections.