Yesterday (September 14), Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga enjoyed a land sliding victory, winning 70% of the overall eligible votes for the LDP leadership election. Key messages are: 1. His victory was obvious even before the election as the major factions had expressed their support to him. 2. Fumio Kishida managed to stay in the race for the next year’s full-fledged leadership election. He could only obtain support from a small portion of regional votes. 3. Shigeru Ishiba came last. His popularity among the public is his strong point. However, he lost 16 percentage points from the regional chapters compared to 2018. He could not garner a big support from Diet members outside his faction.