Suzu Mayor Osamu Kaizo, who supports a 25-year-old plan to build a nuclear plant in the coastal city in Ishikawa Prefecture, has won his second four-year term.
Kaizo, 62, defeated nuclear foe Masuhiro Izumiya, a 36-year-old confectioner, by 9,300 votes to 6,690 votes in Sunday's election. Voter turnout was 90.54 percent.
Izumiya, Kaizo's only challenger in the race, called for freezing the nuclear project, planned by three power companies — Kansai Electric Power Co., Chubu Electric Power Co. and Hokuriku Electric Power Co.
Saying construction of the plant would revitalize the city's economy, Kaizo pledged efforts to resume preparatory work by the utilities to fix the plant's location.
Location efforts have been suspended since 1989 due to opposition by local residents.
The three power companies issued a statement saying they were "very pleased by the re-election of the incumbent mayor, who supports our project."
The firms will "continue efforts to obtain more understanding about the project from the citizens," it said.
The Suzu plant would be the prefecture's second plant. The city started calling for the building of a nuclear plant in 1975.