JOHOR BAHRU (July 11): After losing all its seats in the Sabah state election late last year, DAP suffered yet another setback in Johor after losing four incumbent seats in the state to Barisan Nasional (BN).

DAP, which contested 17 seats in the Johor state election, won just six of them, compared with eight won by MCA in this election round, pointing to a more competitive contest and changing voter dynamics.

In addition, the seats were won with margins significantly reduced in several constituencies — four of them were secured with less than 10%, Election Commission data showed.

The six seats won by DAP are Bentayan (N.12)(28.1% margin), Penggaram (N.23)(9.2%), Mengkibol (N.28)(9.7%), Stulang (N.45)(1.7%), Skudai (N.48)(22.5%) and Senai (N.52)(7.8%) — all of which saw BN fielding MCA candidates.

DAP's six seats give Pakatan Harapan eight seats in total, backed by one each from PKR and Amanah.

Three seats previously held by DAP were conceded to MCA: Tangkak (N.10), Jementah (N.02) and Johor Jaya (N.42). It also lost Perling (N.46) to MIC.

In Stulang, DAP retained the seat with a slim majority of 683 votes, a sharp decline from the 2,866-vote majority it secured in the previous election.

Perling was among the closest contests, with DAP losing the three-cornered fight to MIC by about 1,830 votes, or roughly 2.4% of the total votes.

The results highlighted a stronger challenge from MCA in Chinese-majority constituencies, where the two parties have traditionally competed for support.

The outcome represents another electoral setback for DAP following its poor performance in the Sabah state election, where the party failed to secure any seats.

Meanwhile, MCA emerged as one of the main beneficiaries of the shift in support, retaining all four seats it previously held — Yong Peng (N.19), Bekok (N.06), Pekan Nanas (N.55) and Paloh (N.30) — with increased majorities.

Aside from winning three additional seats from DAP, MCA garnered the most votes in Layang-Layang (N.27), which was previously held by Umno.

In a post-election statement, MCA deputy chief of publicity bureau Neow Choo Seong said the results showed voters were increasingly rejecting what he described as a political culture marked by arrogance, self-righteousness, refusal to acknowledge mistakes and constant attacks against opponents.

"If DAP continues to indulge in self-satisfaction, continues to take Chinese voters for granted, and continues to use moral pressure on Chinese voters, the party will face a stronger backlash from the people in the future," he said.

Find out all you need to know about the 2026 Johor election here.