Lee was deputy mayor of Chiayi between 2001 and 2004, when he left office to be appointed the vice minister of civil service. In 2005, he challenged Chen Li-chen in a mayoral primary, and lost.[1] Lee contested the Chiayi district legislative seat in 2012, defeating incumbent Chiang Yi-hsiung. Lee was elected co-convenor of the Internal Administration Committee alongside Wu Yu-sheng in 2014. The pair succeeded Chang Ching-chung, who had, by forcibly passing the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement through the committee earlier that year, inadvertently caused the Sunflower Student Movement.[2][3] Lee supported the creation of a committee to consider constitutional amendments in December.[4] Lee won reelection in 2016. After stepping down at the end of his legislative term in 2020, Lee served as deputy secretary-general of the presidential office.[5] In June 2022, Lee received the DPP nomination for the Chiayi mayoralty.[6] He was appointed deputy labor minister in January 2023.[7]
