Kagoshima 2nd district

Kagoshima 2nd district (鹿児島[県第]2区, Kagoshima[-ken dai-]ni-ku) is a single-member electoral district of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the National Diet of Japan. Located in Southern Kagoshima Prefecture it covers parts of the capital Kagoshima City (former municipalities Taniyama City and Kiire Town), Ibusuki City and former Ei Town (now part of Minami-Kyūshū) in the main island part of Kagoshima, and Amami City and Ōshima County on the Amami islands. As of 2013, 279,541 eligible voters were registered in the district, giving it above-average vote weight.[1]

From 2000 to 2014, the district had been represented by the Tokuda family who runs the Tokushūkai hospital group. A political funds scandal in 2013 over donations from Tokushūkai led to the resignations of Tokyo governor Naoki Inose and Takeshi Tokuda.

List of representatives

Representative	Party		Dates	Notes
Shūkō Sonoda		Liberal Democratic	1996–2000
Torao Tokuda		Liberal League	2000–2005	Re-elected at the 2003 general election
Takeshi Tokuda		Independent	2005–2009	Joined the LDP in 2006
		LDP	2009–2014	Resigned from his seat in February 2014
Masuo Kaneko		LDP	2014–present	Won April 2014 by-election and re-elected at December 2014 general election

Results

2014[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democratic	Masuo Kaneko (Incumbent) (endorsed by Komeito)	91,670	74.2
	Communist	Mitsuharu Iwaizako	31,823	25.8
Turnout			277,830	47.11	-13.44
	Liberal Democratic hold		Swing

April 2014 By-election[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democratic	Masuo Kaneko (endorsed by Komeito)[4]	66,360	52.6
	Independent	Akashi Uchikoshi (Endorsed by Democratic, Restoration, Unity and People's Life parties)[4]	46,021	36.5
	Shintō Hitori Hitori	Yoshiko Arikawa	5,507	4.6
	Communist	Terashi Mishima	5,507	4.4
	Happiness Realization	Isao Matsuzawa	1,283	1.0
	Independent	Toshiaki Seki	1,152	0.9
Turnout			279,787	60.55	-13.63
	Liberal Democratic hold		Swing

2012[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democratic	Takeshi Tokuda (Incumbent) (endorsed by Komeito)	109,744	66.7
	Democratic	Akashi Uchikoshi (PR block incumbent) (endorsed by People's New Party)	45,707	27.8
	Communist	Terashi Mishima	9,177	5.6
Turnout			281,457	74.18	0.37
	Liberal Democratic hold		Swing

2009[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democratic	Takeshi Tokuda (Incumbent)	114,102	55.7
	Democratic	Akashi Uchikoshi Was elected to Kyūshū PR block	88,562	43.2
	Happiness Realization	Mifuko Kamimura	1,169	1.1
Turnout			283,503	73.81	2.22
	Liberal Democratic gain from Independent		Swing

2005[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Takeshi Tokuda	112,437	53.48
	Liberal Democratic	Shuko Sonoda	71,858	35.15
	Independent	Akashi Uchikoshi	44,853	21.94
Turnout
	Independent gain from Liberal League		Swing

2003

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal League	Torao Tokuda (Incumbent)	97,423	49.1
	Liberal Democratic	Shuko Sonoda	90,952	45.9
	Communist	Toshiaki Seki	9,903	5.0
Turnout
	Liberal League hold		Swing

2000

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal League	Torao Tokuda	102,233	50.3
	Liberal Democratic	Shuko Sonoda (Incumbent)	91,162	44.9
	Communist	Haruki Yamaguchi	9,744	4.8
Turnout
	Liberal League gain from Liberal Democratic		Swing

1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democratic	Shuko Sonoda	87,471	47.9
	Liberal League	Torao Tokuda	84,448	46.3
	Communist	Seiki Katsurada	10,618	5.8
Turnout
	Liberal Democratic win (new seat)

References

1. MIC: 平成25年9月2日現在選挙人名簿及び在外選挙人名簿登録者数
2. "総選挙2014>開票結果　小選挙区　鹿児島" [2014 General Election - Election Results: Kagoshima electorates]. Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 24 October 2016.
3. "衆議院鹿児島県第２区選出議員 補欠選挙結果調" [House of Kepresentatives Kagoshima 2nd District By-election Results] (PDF) (in Japanese). Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
4. "鹿児島２区補選　「安倍人気」なお追い風、金子氏初当選" [Kagoshima 2nd District By-election: "Abe's popularity" tail wind, Kaneko elected]. Sankei Shimbun. 28 April 2014. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
5. 総選挙2012>開票結果　小選挙区　鹿児島. Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 2014-03-28.
6. 総選挙2009>開票結果　小選挙区　鹿児島. Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 2014-03-28.
7. "総選挙2005>開票結果　小選挙区　鹿児島" [2005 General Election - Election Results: Kagoshima electorates]. Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 24 October 2016.