The scale of the defeat was far greater than forecast, with the DPP losing seven cities and counties of the 13 they held — including its traditional bastions of Kaohsiung and Yilan. Now with just 14 months to go until the presidential election in January 2020, Tsai faces a challenge to turn things around. Although she resigned as head of the DPP after the election loss, Tsai faces no obvious challengers from within who might stop her from seeking a second term as president.
