Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike cruised to a resounding victory in Sunday's gubernatorial election, securing a second term and marking the end of a predictable campaign held during unpredictable times.
The incumbent, who entered the race with overwhelming support from both ruling and opposition parties, was pitted against a slew of lesser-known candidates in a campaign overshadowed by the unnerving presence of a pandemic.
The governor's re-election — having received 3,661,371 votes, far more than her next closest challenger, Kenji Utsunomiya, a 73-year-old lawyer and former head of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, at just 844,151 votes — was a tacit sign that a majority of voters in Tokyo trust Koike to continue her battle against the novel coronavirus.
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