Photo/Illutration Voters listen to a speech by a gubernatorial candidate in Hyogo Prefecture on Nov. 7. (Takeshi Shimawaki)

KOBE--Former Hyogo Governor Motohiko Saito trails the front-runner in a gubernatorial election called after he left the post amid bullying and corruption allegations, with a week to go in the campaign. 

Kazumi Inamura, a former mayor of Amagasaki in the prefecture, has taken a slight lead in the Nov. 17 poll, according to an Asahi Shimbun survey and the newspaper’s reporting.

The situation could change because more than 30 percent of voters did not disclose how they would vote in the telephone survey conducted on Nov. 9-10.

Saito, 47, vacated the office in September after the prefectural assembly voted for a no-confidence motion over workplace bullying and other allegations by a whistleblower.

Inamura, 52, is backed by some Liberal Democratic Party prefectural assembly members, the prefectural branch of Rengo (Japanese Trade Union Confederation) and others.

Of the respondents who disclosed who they would vote for, Inamura received backing from a little less than half of LDP supporters, a large majority of supporters of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and nearly 40 percent of unaffiliated voters.

Saito gained backing from a little less than half of unaffiliated voters and 40 percent of LDP supporters.

Inamura, Saito and five other candidates are all running as independents.

Takayuki Shimizu, 50, a former Upper House member supported by regional political party Hyogo Ishin no Kai, won backing from some Ishin supporters and a little more than 10 percent of unaffiliated voters.

Yoshikiyo Osawa, 61, a doctor supported by the Japanese Communist Party, garnered backing from more than half of party supporters.

Still, their support is not broadly based.

In the survey, a combined 58 percent of respondents said they “highly” or “somewhat highly” evaluate Saito’s performance during the past three years, compared with a combined 38 percent who said they do not evaluate it “at all” or “so much.”

Fifty-six percent said they will prioritize Saito’s handling of the document produced by the whistleblower, while 35 percent said they will not.

The survey received 938 valid responses, or 51 percent of the 1,831 households contacted through computer-generated landline telephone numbers.

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