Political decisions over the fate of Fukui's aging reactors have long been in the hands of powerful pro-nuclear Diet members who represent the prefecture.
The Dec. 14 poll is not expected to change that, although it will be the first in which only two Fukui Lower House members are up for re-election. The loss of one seat stems from electoral district reforms that went into effect last year. Currently, the prefecture has three districts.
The No. 1 district, which mostly encompasses the city of Fukui in the north of the prefecture, is represented by Tomomi Inada, a right-wing Liberal Democratic Party policy chief and close ideological confidant of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.