衆院北海道２区補選が告示　６人届け出、自民「不戦敗」

　衆院北海道２区補欠選挙が１３日、告示された。参院長野選挙区補選、参院広島選挙区再選挙と共に菅政権発足後初の国政選挙で、２５日に投開票される。自民党が候補者を立てなかったため、野党候補らが議席を争う構図だ。
　２区補選は、吉川貴盛元農林水産相＝自民離党＝の議員辞職に伴う。元農水相は鶏卵生産会社から賄賂を受け取ったとして、収賄罪で在宅起訴された。自民党は「政治とカネ」の問題で批判が強まり、苦戦は避けられないと判断し、候補擁立を見送った。
　立候補したのは、無所属新人の医師小林悟（５６）、立憲民主党元職の松木謙公（６２）＝国民民主、社民両党推薦＝、ともに無所属新人の元民放アナウンサー鶴羽佳子（５３）、弁護士長友隆典（５２）、日本維新の会新人の元道議山崎泉（４８）、ＮＨＫ受信料を支払わない方法を教える党新人の元会社員斉藤忠行（２９）の各氏。
　共産党は候補者を取り下げ、党道委員会が松木氏を推薦した。（2021/04/13-10:46）

The official campaign period for the April 25 House of Representatives by-election in a constituency of Hokkaido, northernmost Japan, kicked off on Tuesday, with opposition candidates vying for a seat vacated by a scandal-tainted former agriculture minister.
   Along with two elections to fill seats in the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of parliament, one each in the prefectural constituencies of Nagano, central Japan, and Hiroshima, western Japan, the Lower House by-election in Hokkaido will be the first parliamentary poll since the administration of Yoshihide Suga was inaugurated in September last year.
   The by-election in Hokkaido's No. 2 electoral district follows the resignation of former agriculture minister Takamori Yoshikawa, who has left the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Yoshikawa has been indicted without arrest on suspicion of accepting bribes from an egg production company when he was farm minister.
   The LDP has decided not to field a candidate for the election, judging that the party will inevitably face an uphill battle due to growing criticism over the money scandal.
   Six contenders filed their candidacies for the election, including Satoru Kobayashi, a 56-year-old doctor and independent newcomer, and Kenko Matsuki, a 62-year-old former lawmaker from the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, who is backed by the Democratic Party for the People and the Social Democratic Party.