Scandal-Tainted Ex-Maebashi Mayor Re-Elected

Maebashi, Gunma Pref., Jan. 13 (Jiji Press)--Former Maebashi Mayor Akira Ogawa was re-elected Monday after giving up the mayoralty of the eastern Japan city over controversial hotel visits with a married municipal official.

Ogawa, 43, defeated four other candidates, including lawyer Akira Maruyama, 40. During her election campaign, Ogawa apologized over the scandal while pledging to change Maebashi, the capital of Gunma Prefecture.

Voter turnout was 47.32 pct, up from 39.39 pct in the previous election in February 2024, when she was first elected Maebashi mayor.

"I want to start working immediately and build a better Maebashi with you," Ogawa said in a speech to her supporters.

She resigned in November last year after a media report in September said she visited a hotel with the married male subordinate, who later left the municipal government. Over the scandal, she apologized for her thoughtless acts but denied that there was any sexual relationship between them.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]