On November 24, millions of Taiwanese will vote for more than 11,000 mayors, councilors, and other officials nationwide in a key midterm election—only the country’s fifth since the victory of Chen Shui-Bian in 2000 ended decades of continuousrule by the Kuomintang party. Four factors from the midterms will impact the 2020 presidential election, cross-Strait relations, and the future of the 23.5 million people living in this island nation. These key issues have critical implications that observers watching both sides of the Taiwan Strait should focus on.