TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Kuomintang’s (KMT) incumbent Chiayi City Mayor Huang Min-hui (黃敏惠) won re-election in a mayoral by-election on Sunday (Dec. 18), beating former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋).

Huang garnered 31,896 votes compared to Lee’s 18,616 votes, according to the Central Election Commission (CEC). Huang has declared victory in the race.

The Chiayi mayoral race was suspended due to the death of former non-partisan candidate Huang Shao-tsung (黃紹聰), who died during the campaign. According to the Civil Servants Election And Recall Act, a by-election must be taken in this case.

The mayoral race was mainly contested between the incumbent mayor and Lee, with the other three nonpartisan candidates being considered as long shots.

Local elections took place on Nov. 26. The ruling DPP suffered a tremendous defeat, with the number of DPP-ruled counties and municipalities shrinking from seven to five after the elections. The total population of the DPP-ruled regions after the local elections will only account for one-fourth of Taiwan’s total population after inauguration day on Dec. 25.

The DPP had hoped to win the Chiayi mayoral race to recover some lost ground. Around 44% of voters turned out to vote on Sunday, according to the CEC.