Eric Chu
Hou originally joined the Kuomintang in 1975, but allowed his membership to lapse during his law enforcement career. Hou was recruited to join the Democratic Progressive Party in 2002. Eric Chu asked Hou to serve as deputy mayor of New Taipei in 2010, and Hou rejoined the Kuomintang in 2013. Hou served as deputy mayor alongside Lee Shu-chuan and Hsu Chih-chien who left office on 25 February 2014 and 30 June 2014, respectively. Later, Chen Shen-hsien was appointed to the deputy mayorship. Hou was promoted from his previous position as deputy mayor on 20 October 2015, as Chu prepared for the 2016 presidential election. Chu lost the election to Tsai Ing-wen, and resumed mayoral duties on 18 January 2016.