Taiwan's Taitung county election is turning into a two-track fight — party muscle on one side, farm disaster relief on the other — with local growers caught in the middle after heavy rain.

• KMT candidate Wu Hsiu-hua launched a network of community support groups, with party chair Cheng Li-wun handing over a campaign banner and calling for unity to hold the county.
• The KMT is framing the race as one link in a chain from 16 years of its own county rule toward winning back national power in 2028.
• DPP candidate Chen Ying toured sugar apple orchards hit by days of heavy rain, bringing along farm agencies and local officials to document the losses.
• The rain landed during flowering and hand-pollination season, so growers face poor fruit set, dropped small fruit, disease in bigger fruit, and higher costs to redo the work.
• Guava crops took a hit too from too much rain and too little sun, and some of the damage will only show up weeks later.

Outlook: Chen is pushing for central government cash relief for farmers who meet the damage threshold, while both camps use Taitung's rural distress to build their case ahead of the local elections.