'Reform New Party' Sealing Internal Strife, Final Push to Secure 'Undecided Voters'

As the Reform New Party settles internal conflicts that erupted immediately after announcing proportional representation candidates, it plans to target undecided voters to boost its support in the final stages of the general election.

Lee Jun-seok, leader of the Reform New Party, said on KBS Radio on the 22nd, "The third party's vote-getting power depends on where undecided voters who have not made up their minds in the final stage move to," adding, "It is a contest based on the competitiveness of candidates rather than party strength."

Lee said, "When I ran for election in Nowon-byeong under the Bareunmirae Party, the polls showed 11%, but the actual vote was 27%," and added, "If we show a good performance until the end of the election, voters in Dongtan will also respond sufficiently."

Lee, who declared his candidacy for Hwaseong in Gyeonggi Province, is currently trailing Democratic Party candidate Gong Young-woon, who is leading in recent polls, by about 20%. According to a party candidate support rate survey conducted by Hangil Research on behalf of Incheon Ilbo and Gyeongin Broadcasting from the 15th to 16th among men and women aged 18 and over residing in the Hwaseong electoral district, Democratic Party candidate Gong recorded 46.2%, People Power Party candidate Han Jeong-min 20.1%, and Reform New Party candidate Lee 23.1%.

Lee Jun-seok, leader of the Reform New Party, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 6th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

On the other hand, Lee received 22.8% support among undecided voters, which is 11.9 and 16.9 percentage points ahead of candidates Gong Young-woon and Han Jeong-min, respectively. This means that targeting the undecided voter bloc could be a decisive factor in the final stages. Notably, among residents in Hwaseong in their 30s, the undecided voter rate was highest at 11.5%. Among voters in their 30s, the support rates were Gong 40.1%, Lee 29.6%, and Han 18.8%, so if the undecided votes consolidate toward one candidate, changes in rankings among the three candidates are possible.

However, among voters in their 50s, candidate Gong held a majority with 50.8%, and among those aged 60 and above, candidate Han led with 47.8%. The undecided voter rate hovered around 10% in each age group. The survey method was 100% wireless ARS (100% virtual numbers: randomly sampled by gender, age, and region), with a sample size of 503 respondents. The response rate was 6.3%, and the margin of error was ±4.4 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Candidate Lee, who recorded support in the 20% range, is in a relatively better position. Other Reform New Party candidates preparing for the general election are struggling with single-digit support rates. According to a survey conducted by Next Research on behalf of Maeil Business Newspaper and MBN among men and women aged 18 and over from the 17th to 18th in Jongno, Seongnam Bundang-gap, and from the 18th to 19th in Yeongdeungpo-gap, Reform New Party candidate Geum Tae-seop running in Jongno received only 6% support. Candidate Heo Eun-ah running in Yeongdeungpo-gap recorded 5%, and candidate Ryu Ho-jeong running in Seongnam Bundang-gap had 2% support.

The party plans to actively present the Reform New Party as a future alternative to capture the votes of voters hesitating between the Democratic Party and the People Power Party in the final stages. Candidate Heo continues to attack her competitor, People Power Party lawmaker Kim Young-joo. She questions the legitimacy of Kim, who was formerly with the Democratic Party and criticized President Yoon Seok-youl and the government and ruling party, running for election after switching to the People Power Party. Candidate Ryu is targeting voters by emphasizing redevelopment measures in Pangyo and a pledge to reorganize Bundang-gu into Bundang City.

Meanwhile, the survey was conducted with about 500 respondents per region through 100% telephone interviews using virtual phone numbers provided by the three major mobile carriers. The response rates by region were △ Seoul Jongno 10.6% △ Seoul Jungseongdong-gap 15.4% △ Seoul Yeongdeungpo-gap 9.4% △ Seoul Mapo-eul 10.5% △ Gyeonggi Seongnam Bundang-gap 12.7%. For more details, refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.