Maeno Masanori, Nippon TV reporter: The LDP leadership election came down to a runoff between Takaichi Sanae and Ishiba Shigeru, with Ishiba pulling off a come-from-behind victory. It was a victory by a margin of 21 votes.

Aizawa Ichiro, LPD Election Committee Chair: Takaichi Sanae received 194 votes. Ishiba Shigeru received 215 votes.

The ruling party leadership election involving a record nine candidates turned out to a three-way battle between Ishiba, Takaichi Sanae and Koizumi Shinjiro. 

In the initial voting, Takaichi and Ishiba pulled ahead of the other seven candidates with strong support from party members.

In the first round, Takaichi received 181 votes, Ishiba 154, and Koizumi 136, combining both party member and lawmaker votes. This led to a runoff between Takaichi and Ishiba as a majority of votes was necessary to win.

The runoff was contested with a total of 415 votes, combining 367 parliamentary votes and 47 votes from the prefectural federations.

Ishiba achieved a come-from-behind victory with 215 votes, while Takaichi received 194 votes.