List of unsuccessful candidates for President of the Republic of China

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Since the amendment of the Constitution of the Republic of China in 1994 that introduced direct elections, there have been 13 unsuccessful candidates for President of the Republic of China. Since 1996, four third party or independent candidacies have won at least ten percent of the popular vote, but all failed to win the presidency.

List of unsuccessful candidates

Term (Election)	Candidate				Vote		Running mate
Term (Election)	Candidate (Birth–death)	Party		Office at time of election	PV	%	Candidate (Birth–death)	Party		Office at time of election
9 (1996)	Peng Ming-min 彭明敏 (1923–2022)		Democratic Progressive	Professor	2,274,586	21.13%	Frank Hsieh 謝長廷 (1946– )		Democratic Progressive	fmr. Member of the Legislative Yuan
9 (1996)	Lin Yang-kang 林洋港 (1927–2013)		Independent	fmr. President of the Judicial Yuan	1,603,790	14.90%	Hau Pei-tsun 郝柏村 (1919–2020)		Independent	fmr. Premier
9 (1996)	Chen Li-an 陳履安 (1937– )		Independent	fmr. President of the Control Yuan	1,074,044	9.98%	Wang Ching-feng 王清峰 (1952– )		Independent	fmr. Member of the Control Yuan
10 (2000)	James Soong 宋楚瑜 (1942– )		Independent	fmr. Governor of Taiwan	4,664,972	36.84%	Chang Chau-hsiung 張昭雄 (1942– )		Independent	Surgeon
10 (2000)	Lien Chan 連戰 (1936– )		Kuomintang	Vice President	2,925,513	23.10%	Vincent Siew 蕭萬長 (1939– )		Kuomintang	Premier
10 (2000)	Hsu Hsin-liang 許信良 (1941– )		Independent	fmr. Taoyuan County Magistrate	79,429	0.63%	Josephine Chu 朱惠良 (1950– )		Independent	Member of the Legislative Yuan
10 (2000)	Li Ao 李敖 (1935–2018)		New	Writer	16,782	0.13%	Elmer Fung 馮滬祥 (1948–2021)		New	Member of the Legislative Yuan
11 (2004)	Lien Chan 連戰 (1936– )		Kuomintang	fmr. Vice President	6,442,452	49.89%	James Soong 宋楚瑜 (1942– )		People First	fmr. Governor of Taiwan
12 (2008)	Frank Hsieh 謝長廷 (1946– )		Democratic Progressive	fmr. Premier	5,444,949	41.55%	Su Tseng-chang 蘇貞昌 (1947– )		Democratic Progressive	fmr. Premier
13 (2012)	Tsai Ing-wen 蔡英文 (1956– )		Democratic Progressive	fmr. Vice Premier	6,093,578	45.63%	Su Jia-chyuan 蘇嘉全 (1956– )		Democratic Progressive	fmr. Minister of the Interior
13 (2012)	James Soong 宋楚瑜 (1942– )		People First	fmr. Governor of Taiwan	369,588	2.77%	Lin Ruey-shiung 林瑞雄 (1938– )		Independent	Epidemiologist
14 (2016)	Eric Chu 朱立倫 (1961– )		Kuomintang	Mayor of New Taipei City	3,813,365	31.04%	Wang Ju-hsuan 王如玄 (1961– )		Independent	fmr. Minister of the Council of Labor Affairs
14 (2016)	James Soong 宋楚瑜 (1942– )		People First	fmr. Governor of Taiwan	1,576,861	12.83%	Hsu Hsin-ying 徐欣瑩 (1972– )		Minkuotang	Member of the Legislative Yuan
15 (2020)	Han Kuo-yu 韓國瑜 (1957– )		Kuomintang	Mayor of Kaohsiung	5,522,119	38.61%	Chang San-cheng 張善政 (1954– )		Independent	fmr. Premier
15 (2020)	James Soong 宋楚瑜 (1942– )		People First	fmr. Governor of Taiwan	608,590	4.26%	Sandra Yu 余湘 (1959– )		Independent	Businesswoman
16 (2024)	Hou Yu-ih 侯友宜 (1957– )		Kuomintang	Mayor of New Taipei City	4,671,021	33.49%	Jaw Shaw-kong 趙少康 (1950– )		Kuomintang	fmr. Member of the Legislative Yuan
16 (2024)	Ko Wen-je 柯文哲 (1959– )		Taiwan People's	fmr. Mayor of Taipei	3,690,466	26.46%	Cynthia Wu 吳欣盈 (1978– )		Taiwan People's	Member of the Legislative Yuan

Notes

There have been 17 unsuccessful major party candidacies by 13 individuals in 8 presidential elections.
^ The most recent elective office, or senior appointive position, held by the candidate when the presidential election was held.
^ Candidacy obtained through citizen petitions.

References

"Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China". Wikisource. 2020-08-22. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
"中選會資料庫網站 (Central Election Commission Election Database)". 中選會 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 2020-08-22. Retrieved 2020-08-22.

v t e Elections and referendums in Taiwan
Presidential elections	1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 2028
Legislative Yuan elections	1969 1972 1975 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 Next
Local elections	1935 1936 1939 1940 1946 1950–51 1952 1954 1955 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1963 1964 1965 1968 1969 1971 1972 1973 1975 1977 1978 1981 1982 1985 1986 1989 1990 1993 1994 1997–98 2001–02 2005–06 2009 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026
Referendums	2004 2008 (Jan) 2008 (Mar) 2018 2021 2022
National Assembly elections	1969 1972 1980 1986 1991 1996 2005
See also: Elections in the Republic of China (1912–49) List of by-elections in Taiwan

v t e Presidents of the Republic of China
Provisional Government	Sun Yat-sen (1912) Yuan Shikai (1912–1913)
Beiyang government	Yuan Shikai (1913–1916) Li Yuanhong (1916–1917) Feng Guozhang (1917–1918; acting) Xu Shichang (1918–1922) Li Yuanhong (1922–1923) Gao Lingwei (1923; acting) Cao Kun (1923–1924) Huang Fu (1924; acting) Duan Qirui (1924–1926) Hu Weide (1926; acting) Yan Huiqing (1926; acting) Du Xigui (1926; acting) Wellington Koo (1926–1927; acting) Zhang Zuolin (1927–1928)
Nationalist government (Chairman)	Tan Yankai (1928) Chiang Kai-shek (1928–1931) Lin Sen (1931–1943) Chiang Kai-shek (1943–1948)
Constitutional government (Indirect election)	Chiang Kai-shek (1948–1949) Li Tsung-jen (1949–1950; acting) Chiang Kai-shek (1950–1975; resumed) Yen Chia-kan (1975–1978) Chiang Ching-kuo (1978–1988) Lee Teng-hui (1988–1996)
Constitutional government (Direct election)	Lee Teng-hui (1996–2000) Chen Shui-bian (2000–2008) Ma Ying-jeou (2008–2016) Tsai Ing-wen (2016–2024) Lai Ching-te (2024–present)
See also List of presidents of the Republic of China Xia → Shang → Zhou → Qin → Han → 3 Kingdoms → Jìn / 16 Kingdoms → S. Dynasties / N. Dynasties → Sui → Tang → 5 Dynasties & 10 Kingdoms → Liao / Song / W. Xia / Jīn → Yuan → Ming → Qing → ROC / PRC

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