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Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Progressive candidate puts up good fight in Kyoto gubernatorial election

In the April 9 Kyoto gubernatorial election, candidate Kinugasa Yoko who was supported by the Association for a Democratic Kyoto Government consisting of the Japanese Communist Party, democratic organizations, and individuals received 269,740 votes (34.38 percent) but failed to defeat the incumbent. Voter turnout was at a record low of 38.44 percent.

Elected was Yamada Keiji, recommended by the Liberal Democratic Party, the Komei Party, the Democratic Party of Japan, and the Social Democratic Party.

Kinugasa received 139.5 percent of the vote the JCP obtained in the last House of Representatives proportional representation election, while Yamada got only 46.5 percent of the votes cast for all political parties except for the JCP in the same election. Mass media exit polls showed that nearly half of voters with no political affiliation, one third of the DPJ supporters, and more than 70 percent of the SDP supporters voted for Kinugasa, and her candidacy resonated with a wider range of voters irrespective of their party preference.

The Association for a Democratic Kyoto Government expressed its determination to make further efforts to meet Kyoto citizensﾕ demands entrusted to Kinugasa in her election campaign.

At issue in the election was whether to choose a citizen-oriented woman governor or with a cold-hearted bureaucrat-turned governor who has already imposed hardships on the residents.
- Akahata, April 11, 2006