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Unaffiliated voters and seniors fueled Denny Tamaki’s landslide re-election victory in the Sept. 11 Okinawan gubernatorial race, exit polls showed.

As expected, the incumbent gained the vast majority of ballots from supporters of opposition parties and residents who are against the central government’s U.S. military base relocation plan in the prefecture.

Around 41 percent of voters said economic revitalization was the most important issue, as was pushed by the ruling coalition’s candidate, Atsushi Sakima, according to the exit poll.

Thirty-four percent said the most critical issue was the plan to relocate the functions of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to a site off the Henoko district of Nago in the prefecture.

Still, Tamaki won easily.

The exit poll was conducted on election day at 62 voting locations jointly by The Asahi Shimbun, Kyodo News, The Okinawa Times, The Ryukyu Shimpo, Ryukyu Asahi Broadcasting Corp., Ryukyu Broadcasting Corp. and Okinawa Television Broadcasting Co.

The poll received 2,956 valid responses.

According to the results, Tamaki received votes from 90 percent of people who support the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and 95 percent of backers of the Japanese Communist Party.

About 70 percent of those who support Reiwa Shinsengumi and 90 percent of supporters of the Social Democratic Party also voted for the incumbent, the poll showed.

Among unaffiliated voters, 62 percent picked Tamaki.

Sakima received ballots from 66 percent of supporters of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and from 62 percent of those who support junior coalition partner Komeito.

Younger people tended to favor Sakima, while Tamaki was the preferred choice among older voters. More than 60 percent of voters 60 or older picked Tamaki.

The incumbent also had a slight edge among male voters, and an even larger ratio, of 58 percent, among female voters. Sakima was selected by 33 percent of women.

In an exit poll conducted during the previous Okinawa gubernatorial election four years ago, 46 percent said the U.S. military base issue was the most important factor, while 34 percent chose economic revitalization.

Of the 41 percent who picked the economy in the latest exit poll, 59 percent voted for Sakima, while 78 percent of the 34 percent who cited the U.S. base issue chose Tamaki.

Fifty-three percent of voters oppose the Henoko relocation plan, while 43 percent support it, according to the poll results.

The figures in the previous exit poll were 57 percent opposed to and 36 percent in favor of the relocation plan.

Seventy-six percent of voters against the relocation plan voted for Tamaki, while Sakima received votes from 63 percent of those who support the project.

The central government has said it will make efforts to scale down and integrate U.S. military bases in Okinawa Prefecture.

Only 14 percent of voters said they gave “very high” marks to the government’s efforts so far, while 33 percent said they gave a positive evaluation “to a certain degree.”

Twenty-nine percent said they gave “somewhat low” marks and 20 percent said “very low marks or zero.”

Of those who gave low marks, 66 percent voted for Tamaki. Half of those who rated the government’s efforts positively picked Sakima.

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