Ousted Ito Mayor Takubo’s Re-election Bid Ends in Failure

Ito, Shizuoka Pref., Dec. 14 (Jiji Press)–Sunday’s mayoral election in the city of Ito, Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan, held due to the ouster of former Mayor Maki Takubo resulted in the first-time election of former city council member Kazuya Sugimoto, with Takubo’s re-election bid ending in failure. The key issue was rebuilding municipal administration after it was thrown into turmoil by allegations that Takubo, 55, falsified her academic background, which led to her ouster. The voter turnout was 60.54 pct, significantly higher than the previous election’s 49.65 pct. A record nine candidates ran in the mayoral election. Sugimoto, 43, endorsed by the Shizuoka prefectural chapter of the Democratic Party for the People, campaigned on restoring normalcy to city administration, narrowly defeating former mayor Tatsuya Ono, 62, backed by the Liberal Democratic Party’s prefectural chapter. Takubo called for halting a planned large-scale solar power station project in the city, but her vote count placed her third overall. “I will move forward the city administration that had stalled,” Sugimoto said after his election. Takubo was elected mayor for the first time in May. Initially, she claimed to have graduated from Toyo University, but in July, she announced that she had actually been expelled from the university. After the city assembly passed a no-confidence motion against her in September, Takubo dissolved the assembly. Following the subsequent assembly election, the assembly passed a second no-confidence motion, resulting in her removal from office. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]