Takeharu Yamanaka (Mainichi)

       YOKOHAMA (Kyodo) -- Opposition-backed Takeharu Nakayama won the Yokohama mayoral election on Sunday, defeating a Liberal Democratic Party candidate backed by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, according to Kyodo News projections.

       The loss by Hachiro Okonogi, a former chairman of the National Public Safety Commission, is another blow to Suga, who is suffering from falling public support amid dissatisfaction with the government's COVID-19 response.

       With a record-high eight candidates contesting the election, Nakayama, a former professor at Yokohama City University, is expected to have received more than 25 percent of ballots, enough to avoid a second ballot.

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