In a contest seen by many as a referendum on the future of nuclear power in Japan, exit polls suggest the ruling party’s candidate has won the race for Tokyo Governor.  The results will likely boost Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s pro-nuclear agenda.

65-year old Yoichi Masuzoe didn’t play up his pro-nuclear agenda, but will support the conservative government’s drive to restart Japan’s nuclear reactors, shut down since the 2011 triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi plan north of Toyko.  The experienced politician also spoke of local civic issues, projecting an image of a centrist with a steady hand.

“The pledges on which Masuzoe put emphasis were comprehensive, and he didn’t repeat one particular issue,” Meiji University professor Yasushi Aoyama said.  “He gave voters the impression he would be a governor with a sense of stability.”

The anti-nuclear vote was split among three candidates.   Former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa, backed by Japan’s most-popular former PM Junichiro Koizumi (the Elvis guy) might have won had human rights lawyer Kenji Utsunomiya dropped out, or vice-versa.  Each got about 20 percent of the vote; it indicates that a single, credible anti-nuclear candidate would have overwhelmed Masuzoe’s roughly 30 percent.

Tokyo was still digging out of the worst snowstorm since the 1990s for Sunday’s vote, so turnout for the election was a low 46.15 percent — the third-lowest on record.