TOKYO, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike on Sunday was reelected in the gubernatorial race in the Japanese capital.

Koike, 71, won a third consecutive four-year term with effective backing of the Tokyo chapter of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

She defeated Shinjuku Ishimaru, a former mayor from Hiroshima Prefecture and Renho, a 56-year-old House of Councillors member of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.

Sunday's race saw a record total of 56 candidates competing, where Koike as the incumbent governor led by an overwhelming margin.

Due to the slush fund scandal, the LDP suffered a total defeat in the House of Representatives by-elections in April and lost again in the Shizuoka gubernatorial election in May.

"Koike's victory is no triumph for the LDP. The public's criticism of the LDP has not waned," said Tomomi Inada, acting secretary-general of the LDP.

Koike, a conservative who became the first female governor of Tokyo in 2016 after serving as Japan's defense minister and environment minister, scored an overwhelming victory in the previous gubernatorial race in 2020.

The governor of Tokyo, home to about 14 million people, controls an annual budget of over 100 billion U.S. dollars. Enditem

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