岩国市長に福田氏４選　共産推薦新人破る―山口

　任期満了に伴う山口県岩国市長選は２６日投開票され、米軍岩国基地との「共存」を掲げる無所属現職の福田良彦氏（４９）＝自民、公明推薦＝が、基地依存からの脱却を訴えた無所属新人で共産党県東部地区委員長の米重政彦氏（６４）＝共産、社民推薦、立憲民主支持＝を破り、４選を果たした。投票率は過去最低の３９．６３％。
　在日米軍の再編に伴い、岩国基地への空母艦載機移駐が２０１８年に完了した後、初の市長選。基地関連交付金を活用した地域振興策の是非などについて論戦が交わされた。福田氏は連合山口などからも支援を受け、米重氏を引き離した。（2020/01/26-23:04）

Iwakuni Mayor Yoshihiko Fukuda, who calls for the western Japan city's coexistence with a U.S. military base, won a fourth straight four-year term as its leader in Sunday's election.
   Fukuda, 49, who ran in the mayoral poll as an independent, beat his sole contender, Masahiko Yoneshige, 64, also an independent, collecting 33,287 votes against 10,488 votes for the anti-base rival.
   Fukuda was supported by Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito, the coalition partner of the LDP, while Yoneshige was backed by the Japanese Communist Party, the Social Democratic Party and the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, all opposition parties.
   Voter turnout stood at 39.63 pct, the lowest on record for a mayoral election in the city in Yamaguchi Prefecture.
   This was the first Iwakuni mayoral election since the transfer of U.S. carrier-based aircraft to the U.S. military base in the city from the Atsugi base in Kanagawa Prefecture, eastern Japan, was completed in 2018. The aircraft relocation was part of the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan.