三重知事に一見氏初当選　与野党相乗り、２新人破る

　次期衆院選に出馬する現職の辞職に伴う三重県知事選は１２日投開票され、無所属で元国土交通省局長の一見勝之氏（５８）＝自民、立憲民主、公明、国民民主推薦＝が、いずれも無所属で元県議の岡野恵美氏（６９）＝共産推薦＝、建設会社社長の石川剛氏（４７）を破り、初当選を果たした。
　約１０年ぶりに新人同士の争いとなったが、投票率は３７．９３％で、前回（４６．６８％）を下回った。
　一見氏は新型コロナウイルス対策として、ワクチン接種の推進や重症化を防ぐ抗体カクテル療法の促進を訴えた。自然災害に備えた危機管理体制の強化や産業振興も強調し、幅広い層から支持を集めた。
　岡野氏は県内延伸が見込まれるリニア中央新幹線の建設に反対し、地域の公共交通充実などを主張。一見氏への与野党相乗りに対する批判票獲得を狙ったが、及ばなかった。石川氏は疾病対策センターの設置などを唱えたが、浸透しなかった。（2021/09/13-01:36）

Katsuyuki Ichimi, a former senior official at the Japanese transport ministry, was elected governor of Mie Prefecture, central Japan, for the first time on Sunday, easily defeating his two rivals.
   Ichimi, 58, ran in the Mie gubernatorial election as an independent candidate while receiving support from the country's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Komeito, the coalition partner of the LDP, the biggest opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the major opposition Democratic Party for the People.
   He beat independent Emi Okano, a 69-year-old former Mie prefectural assembly member, who was backed by the Japanese Communist Party, and Tsuyoshi Ishikawa, 47, also an independent and president of a construction company. Ichimi garnered 391,767 votes, far more than 96,317 votes for Okano and 59,571 votes for Ishikawa.
   The election was held to choose the successor to Eikei Suzuki, who announced his resignation from the post of Mie governor as he will run in the next election for the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, Japan's parliament. Voter turnout came to 37.93 pct, down from 46.68 pct in the previous Mie gubernatorial election in April 2019.
   In his election campaigning, Ichimi vowed to speed up vaccinations against the novel coronavirus and promote antibody cocktail treatment, which is believed to help prevent COVID-19 patients from developing serious symptoms. He also said he will beef up the prefecture's risk management system against natural disasters and accelerate the development of local industries.