Two people filed Sunday to run in the Sept. 14 mayoral race for Zushi, Kanagawa Prefecture.
The election is being held to fill the post vacated after Kazuyoshi Nagashima stepped down last month to seek a voter mandate for his opposition to the national government's plans to expand a U.S. military housing facility partially located in the city.
The two candidates are Nagashima, 36, and Teruko Ikegami, a 64-year-old doctor.
Nagashima took issue with a deal reached between the United States and the national government in July under which the U.S. would return idle land it occupies in Yokohama in return for the expansion of the Ikego housing complex, which straddles Yokohama and Zushi.
The agreement conflicts with an earlier pledge by the government to not expand Ikego further, Nagashima said.
Both Nagashima and Ikegami are running as independents and both oppose the expansion plan.