Daijiro Hashimoto was poised to win the gubernatorial election Sunday in Kochi Prefecture, according to initial returns and Kyodo projections.

The election was necessary because Hashimoto, who was re-elected only a year ago as governor, stepped down earlier this month after the prefectural assembly called for his resignation over a shady loan deal involving a campaign manager before his first election in 1991.

Hashimoto, 57, who was seeking a fifth term, ran against former Kochi Mayor Tetsuto Matsuo, 57, who also challenged him in the previous election on Nov. 30, 2003, and Masakazu Yamanaka, a 51-year-old former company employee.

The election was widely seen as a contest between Hashimoto and Matsuo, with the key issue being the loan transaction. A prefectural assembly panel suspects a Hashimoto aide repaid the loan with funds given by a construction company that was later awarded public works projects after Hashimoto was elected governor.

Hashimoto has denied any involvement and no charges have been filed.

Meanwhile, preliminary results and Kyodo projections showed that former Utsunomiya Mayor Tomikazu Fukuda was certain to win the Tochigi governorship Sunday.

Fukuda, 51, an independent backed by the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito, was running against Gov. Akio Fukuda, who was seeking a second term, and Masaru Tsukahara, 64.