2016 Democratic Party (Japan, 2016) leadership election

The 2016 Democratic Party leadership election was held on 15 September 2016. It was the party's first election since the formation of the party from the merger of the Democratic Party of Japan and the Japan Innovation Party. The race determined the successor of acting president Katsuya Okada who decided against running for a full term.^[1]

Candidates

Running

Renho, former cabinet minister and sitting member of the House of Councillors.^[2]
Seiji Maehara, former party president (2005–06) and Minister of Foreign Affairs (2010-11).^[3]^[4]
Yuichiro Tamaki, member of the House of Representatives and former bureaucrat.^[5]^[6]

Potential or has publicly expressed interest

Akihisa Nagashima, former vice defense minister.^[7]

Declined to run

Katsuya Okada, acting party president.^[1]
Goshi Hosono, former party policy chief and candidate in the 2015 DPJ presidential election.^[8]

Results

Voting was held on 15 September, following a campaign period from 2 September.^[8]

Voting results^[9]
Candidates	Total points	Caucus	Endorsed candidates	Local councillors	Party members & supporters
Renhō	503pts (59.25%)	80 (160pts)	50 (50pts)	847 (126pts)	59,539 (167pts)
Seiji Maehara	230pts (27.09%)	42 (84pts)	44 (44pts)	335 (50pts)	26,045 (52pts)
Yūichiro Tamaki	116pts (13.66%)	25 (50pts)	24 (24pts)	207 (30pts)	9,808 (12pts)
Invalid votes	-	0	0	4	789
Total	849pts (100%)	147 (294pts)	118 (118pts)	1,393 (206pts)	96,181 (231pts)

References

^ ^a ^b The Japan Times, July 30, 2016: Democratic Party chief Okada won’t seek re-election
^ The Japan Times, August 5, 2016: Renho steps forward in bid to lead DP ahead of Sept. 15 vote
^ The Japan Times, August 26, 2016: Hawkish ex-foreign minister Maehara enters DP leadership race with dig at rival Renho
^ Japan Today, August 26, 2016: Ex-DPJ leader Maehara to run against Renho in Democratic Party leadership race
^ The Japan Times, September 2, 2016: Renho, Maehara, Tamaki launch campaigns for DP presidency
^ The Japan Times, August 5, 2016: DP members want Tamaki to run for party’s helm
^ The Japan Times, August 17, 2016: Within DP, efforts ongoing to field challengers to Renho
^ ^a ^b The Japan Times, August 9, 2016: Hosono may back Renho in DP leadership race
^ "20160915代表選開票結果" (PDF). 民進党. 2016-09-15. Retrieved 2016-09-19.

[Okada_no-run-1] The Japan Times, July 30, 2016: Democratic Party chief Okada won’t seek re-election

[2] The Japan Times, August 5, 2016: Renho steps forward in bid to lead DP ahead of Sept. 15 vote

[3] The Japan Times, August 26, 2016: Hawkish ex-foreign minister Maehara enters DP leadership race with dig at rival Renho

[4] Japan Today, August 26, 2016: Ex-DPJ leader Maehara to run against Renho in Democratic Party leadership race

[5] The Japan Times, September 2, 2016: Renho, Maehara, Tamaki launch campaigns for DP presidency

[6] The Japan Times, August 5, 2016: DP members want Tamaki to run for party’s helm

[7] The Japan Times, August 17, 2016: Within DP, efforts ongoing to field challengers to Renho

[Hosono_no-run-8] The Japan Times, August 9, 2016: Hosono may back Renho in DP leadership race

[9] "20160915代表選開票結果" (PDF). 民進党. 2016-09-15. Retrieved 2016-09-19.

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v t e Democratic Party (2016–2018)
Leaders	Okada Renhō Maehara Ōtsuka
Leadership elections	2016 Sep 2017 Oct 2017
Preceding parties	Democratic Party (1998) Japan Innovation Party
Successor parties	Constitutional Democratic Party (2017) ^centre-left Kibō no Tō ^centre-right Democratic Party for the People (2018) ^centre Group of Independents → The Reviewing Group on Social Security Policy ^centre
Italics denote acting leader.