TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Kuomintang (KMT) on Wednesday (March 23) named Tainan City Councilor Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) to run for mayor, where the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has ruled for 25 years.

Hsieh, 60, will face DPP incumbent Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲), 58, who can run for a second and final term. The elections of mayors, county commissioners, city and county councilors will take place on Nov. 25, with the winners sworn in on Dec. 25.

Hsieh told a KMT meeting Wednesday he hoped to write history by forcing a handover of power in the only one of Taiwan’s six special municipalities that has been run by the same party for "30 years," CNA reported. DPP mayors have actually governed Tainan since 1997.

KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) described him as a local candidate with a long grassroots history. Legislator Charles Chen (陳以信), who had also indicated he wanted to run for mayor of Tainan, said he would give his full support to the official candidate.