SENDAI (Kyodo) The candidate backed by the Democratic Party of Japan was set Sunday night to win the Sendai mayoral election, according to Kyodo News projections.

Emiko Okuyama, 58, was supported by the DPJ's branch in Miyagi Prefecture.

The Liberal Democratic Party, New Komeito and the Japanese Communist Party did not support any candidates in the election.

Okuyama, a former deputy mayor of Sendai, will be the first female mayor of a prefectural capital. Besides the DPJ, she also received backing from the Social Democratic Party.