2015 Nishinomiya by-election

May 2017 The 2015 Nishinomiya by-election 兵庫県議会議員西宮市選挙区補欠選挙 Hyōgo Kengikai Giin Nishinomiya Senkyoku Hoketsu Senkyo Hyōgo Prefectural Assembly Nishinomiya District By-Election was a by-election held on 25 January 2015 to fill two vacancies in the seven-member Nishinomiya district of the Hyogo Prefectural Assembly. Five candidates contested the two seats. Masakazu Yoshioka of the Liberal Democratic Party and Yugo Nakano of the then-recently formed Japan Innovation Party were elected, winning 29.4% and 24.6% of the vote respectively. Voter turnout was 21.3%, the second-lowest ever for a by-election for the assembly. Background The vacancies arose due to the resignations of Ryutaro Nonomura, who was caught in a scandal surrounding inappropriate expense claims, and Haruyo Omae, who had resigned to seek a seat in the House of representatives in the December 2014 national general election.http://www.kobe-np.co.jp/news/shakai/201501/0007688691.shtml 西宮県議補選　吉岡氏と中野氏が初当選 Nishinomiya prefectural by-election: Yoshioka and Nakano first-time winners Japanese Kobe Shimbun 26 January 2015 26 February 2016 Candidates Five candidates had nominated for the election by the deadline on 16 January 2015; none of whom had previously held a seat in the prefectural assembly. The candidates in order of their time of nomination were:http://www.kobe-np.co.jp/news/shakai/201501/0007662374.shtml 西宮県議補選告示　新人５人立候補　野々村元県議らの欠員受け Nishinomiya prefectural by-election nominations: 5 newcomer candidates to replace Nonomura and another Japanese Kobe Shimbun 16 January 2015 26 February 2016http://www.kobe-np.co.jp/news/senkyo/2015/hosennisinomiya/kouho/ 立候補者一覧 List of candidates Japanese Kobe Shimbun 16 January 2015 26 February 2016 Candidates for 2015 Nishinomiya by-electionNamePartyAgeOccupationToyotake MoriikeIndependent 68Citizens group leader, former Nishinomiya city councilor (3 terms)Naomi OkunoDemocratic Party of Japan 49Elementary school teacherYugo NakanoJapan Innovation Party 32Manufacturing company president Masakazu YoshiokaLiberal Democratic Party 40Company president, former Nishinomiya city councilor (2 terms)Hironori SakaiIndependent 38Company president Results Yoshioka and Nakano won the two vacancies by receiving the highest number of votes under the Single non-transferable voting system. Voter turnout was 21.3%, the second-lowest turnout for a by-election for the Hyogo assembly behind the 16.95% that voted at a 2000 by-election. During the campaign, Yoshioka relied upon his record of 8 years and 2 terms as a Nishinomiya city councilor, stating that a "battle-ready politician is necessary". On the other hand, Nakano broadened his support by focusing on reform including measures to help families with children, claiming that "cutting reform must come first, as we musn't pass the tab on to our children". 2015 Nishinomiya By-electionhttp://web.pref.hyogo.jp/pa25/documents/kaihyo_kakutei2.pdf 兵庫県議会議員西宮市選挙区補欠選挙　開票状況表 Hyōgo Prefectural Assembly Nishinomiya District By-Election - Table of Vote Counts Japanese 26 February 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160317004926/http://web.pref.hyogo.jp/pa25/documents/kaihyo_kakutei2.pdf 17 March 2016 dead Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) Masakazu Yoshioka 22,907 29.4 Japan Innovation Party Yugo Nakano 22,907 24.6 Democratic Party of Japan Naomi Okuno 15,436 19.8 Independent Toyotake Moriike 11,046 14.2 Independent Hironori Sakai 9340 12.0 80,693 21.30 Effect Upon the entry of the two new members into the Assembly, Junko Tokuyasu resigned from the Democratic Party and joined with Nakano to give the Innovation Party two members in the 89-seat Assembly.http://www.hyogokengikai.jp/guidance/pdf/H270202.pdf 兵庫県議会の会派の結成及び会派別所属議員数の変更について Concerning the formation of a party within the Hyogo Prefectural Assembly and a change to the number of members belonging to parties 2 February 2015 26 February 2016 Yoshioka increased the Liberal Democratic Party's membership to 44 in the Assembly, giving the party a one-person majority due to two other seats being vacant.http://www.hyogokengikai.jp/guidance/pdf/H270209-1.pdf 会派別所属議員数の変更について Concerning changes to party membership numbers 9 February 2015 26 February 2016 Both Yoshioka and Nakano retained their seats in at the general election held 11 weeks later in April 2015. Omae returned to the Assembly after unsuccessfully contesting the national election, while Okuno and Moriike were once again unsuccessful at winning one of the seven vacant seats. Overall, the Innovation Party increased their representation in the assembly to nine seats while the Liberal Democrats were reduced to 40. The overall number of seats were reduced from 89 to 87 due to the merger of districts.http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/election/local/2015/kaihyou/yh28.html 開票結果-道府県議選・兵庫県【統一地方選2015】 Results, Hyogo Prefecutral Election (2015 unified elections) Yomiuri Shimbun 26 February 2016 References Category:2015 elections in Japan Category:Prefectural assembly elections in Japan Category:January 2015 in Japan Category:Elections in Hyōgo Prefecture Category:Nishinomiya