For the June 3 local elections, the People Power Party's Daegu mayoral nominees have been narrowed down to lawmakers Yoo Young-ha and Choo Kyung-ho. However, with lawmaker Joo Ho-young and former Korea Communications Commission Chairperson Lee Jin-sook, who were cut off in the preliminary, not ruling out running as independents, concerns over a split in the conservative vote remain.
The People Power Party's nomination management committee said on the 17th that lawmakers Yoo Young-ha and Choo Kyung-ho were selected to advance to the main primary for Daegu mayor. The People Power Party plans to hold a debate on the 19th and voting on the 24th–25th, and then select the final Daegu mayoral candidate on the 26th. The Democratic Party of Korea already finalized former Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum early as its Daegu mayoral candidate.
The People Power Party held a two-day vote by dues-paying members and a public opinion poll of ordinary citizens on the 15th–16th, and selected the finalists by reflecting them at 70% and 30%, respectively. Preliminary primary contenders lawmakers Yoon Jae-ok and Choi Eun-seok, former lawmaker Hong Seok-joon, and former Daegu Dong District chief Lee Jae-man failed to clear the main primary threshold.
Choo, from the Ministry of Finance and Economy, served as 1st vice minister and as Minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, a minister-level post. After first entering the National Assembly in the Daegu Dalseong-gun district in the 2016 general election, Choo won consecutive victories through the 2024 general election and is a three-term senior lawmaker. Choo has held key party posts including floor leader, head of the Yeouido Institute, and deputy chair for strategy and planning.
Yoo is considered one of former President Park Geun-hye's closest aides. A former prosecutor, Yoo ran in the Daegu Dalseo-gap district in the 2024 general election and won as a first-term lawmaker.
Still, internal strife over the People Power Party's Daegu mayoral nomination continues even as the main primary approaches. Lawmaker Joo Ho-young has appealed a decision rejecting his injunction to suspend the cutoff, saying Joo will decide the next steps after watching the outcome. Joo has also left open the possibility of running as an independent.
Former Chairperson Lee likewise is not backing down from running. Urging the restoration of an eight-person primary, Lee hinted at the possibility of an independent bid. Lee is still drawing a line against running in a by-election that party leader Jang personally encouraged by visiting Daegu.
As the noise over the Daegu mayoral nomination persists, the electoral landscape is worsening.
According to an interviewer-administered telephone survey conducted by Hankook Research at the request of KBS Daegu Broadcasting Station from the 11th to the 13th on 1,000 Daegu residents aged 18 or older, in a four-way race Kim Boo-kyum, the Democratic Party of Korea's Daegu mayoral candidate, recorded a support rate of 39%–40%, former Chairperson Lee recorded 16%–19%, Vice Speaker Joo recorded 8%–10%, and the People Power Party candidate recorded 1%–11%.
The survey cited in the article had a response rate of 13.6% and a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. Details are available on the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.