TOKYO -- Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party won 10 gubernatorial races and many seats in prefectural assemblies on Sunday, as opposition parties failed to offer alternatives to voters outside major metropolitan areas who are unhappy with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's economic policies.
The election results show the LDP is in a superior position going into this summer's national election for the Diet's upper house, facing little coherent opposition. The ruling party positioned economic revitalization as its leading policy, and Abe hopes to frame the victory in Sunday's local elections as a mandate for his Abenomics policies.
