Photo: Jin Gyo-hun (center) celebrates victory with Democratic Party officials. Credit: Democratic Party of Korea.
The by-election for the district chief of Seoul's Gangseo-gu District 강서구 was called for Democratic Party 민주당's Jin Gyo-hun 진교훈, who leads the People Power Party 국민의힘's Kim Tae-u 김태우, 59.3% to 36.7% with 72.3% of the votes counted. Media outlet called the election for Jin, and Kim conceded the election.
The final margin will narrow from the current differential of approximately 22.6 points, as the early ballots - which heavily favor liberals - were counted first. Nevertheless, the final margin is expected to be around 20%, in a district that the PPP won by 2% in the last Local Elections 지방선거 held in June 2022. Internally, PPP was aiming for a single-digit loss, as it battled headwinds from the deeply unpopular Yoon Suk-yeol 윤석열 presidency.
Gangseo-gu District by-election is the last election before the pivotal Assembly Election to be held in April 2024. The district is considered a bellwether, as it is one of the Seoul districts that flipped from Democratic to PPP between 2020 and 2022. (See previous coverage, "Gangseo-gu as a Preview for Assembly Election.")
