Local elections were held in Taiwan in 1954, the second nation-wide elections in the post-war era of Taiwan, electing all 21 mayors of cities and magistrates of counties. Election for Provisional Taiwan Provincial Council was held alongside the local elections to elect 57 councillors.
As the incumbent mayors/magistrates across the country were elected in eight different stages, resulting in various term of office, the Government decided to extend the tenures of 19 mayors/magistrates for several months to end on 1 June 1954, except Miaoli and Taichung as the magistrates of both were elected in subsequent by-elections.
The unified local elections for the nineteen administrative divisions were held on 2 May 1954, with the same three-year term of office. Miaoli and Taichung elections were held on 18 July 1954, with shorter tenures that would end on the same day with the other local leaders in 1957.
Electoral system
According to the amended "Election and Removal of Mayors and Magistrates of Taiwan Province Regulation" (), the election abolished several requirements comparing to the last: two-round system was abandoned, while simple majority system was replaced by first-past-the-post system. Thresholds requiring 50%-plus turnout and total votes cast (including invalid votes) were abolished. A candidate receiving the most votes shall be declared elected. If two candidates received the same number of votes, lots will be drawn to determine the winner.
Summary
The Kuomintang won in a landslide, capturing 19 out of 21 divisions after flipping in Taichung City, Tainan City, and Hualien County. Incumbent Chiayi Magistrate was defeated by an independent, and Taipei Mayorship continued to be in the hand of the independents.
The list below shows the statistics of party membership of candidates standing in the election. Coloured box refers to the party membership of elected mayor or magistrate.
Detailed results
Taipei
Kuomintang nominated Lt. Gen. Wang Min-ning (王民寧), former head of Taiwan Province police service during the February 28 incident, as the candidate for the Taipei mayoral election. The opposition was represented by Henry Kao, who briefly lived in the United States after last election's defeat. American reporters in Taiwan, who had been in touch with Kao, also reported on his election campaign. After understanding Kao's secret engagement with the American Embassy, Kuomintang seniors were concerned about Kao.
The past of Wang in the 1940s was being dig up and harmed his popularity, including detaining a doctor criticising him for pushing in at hospital, and his leading role during the suppression of February 28 uprising. Wang was also described as out of touch as he was not living in Taiwan for quite some time. According to party members of Kuomintang, Wang's campaign even tried bribing voters with food, who in turn destroyed Wang's election leaflets and then helped with Kao's canvassing. Kao, on the other hand, pursued pro-grassroot campaigning and was praised for his humbleness.
Amidst critical situation with Wang, Chiang Ching-kuo, son of President Chiang, met with heads of intelligence services to discuss further actions to help Wang. Taipei police then urged residents and shops to celebrate less for Kao but more for Wang, while Kuomintang agents groundless rumours over Kao as a CIA spy. This, however, bolstered his popularity as voters were angered by the oppressive governance and hoped Washington could pressure Taiwan Government to implement political reforms.
After voting concluded, the radio withheld announcing the results, only revealing Kao had more votes. William C. Chase, leader of the US Military Assistance Advisory Group in Taiwan, requested the United States Department of State to send a telegraph congratulating Kao's victory after discovering that vote counting stopped at night. Kao believed the telegraph forced Chiang Kai-shek to confirm the election result.
Former American Ambassador Wellington Koo later revealed that Chiang and party leaders were "very shocked and disappointed" over the defeat, while Kao believed the authorities did not stuff the ballot box because he was not considered to be a serious challenger. Seniors of Kuomintang's party headquarter and local branch, including Chang Chi-yun, resigned citing the loss.
Keelung
Yilan
Kan Ah-yen (甘阿炎) from the Kuomintang was elected.
Taoyuan
Hsinchu
Chu Sheng-chi (朱盛淇) was re-elected, fending off challenge by local faction.