TOKYO: Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike has won re-election to a third term on Sunday, fending off challenges from dozens of candidates vying to unseat the ruling Liberal Democratic Party-backed incumbent, according to an exit poll from public broadcaster NHK.

Koike, 71, got more than 40 per cent of the vote, followed by Shinji Ishimaru, 41, a former mayor of a town in Hiroshima prefecture, who was in second place, the exit poll showed. Renho, 56, who was supported by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), came in third.

A victory for Koike could help embattled Prime Minister Fumio Kishida resist calls from within the LDP to step down as public support for him and his ruling group ebbs amid a political donations scandal.

With its popularity waning, the LDP in April lost three parliamentary by-elections to the CDPJ as well as the vote for the governorship of nearby Shizuoka prefecture, which was won by Yasutomo Suzuki, a candidate backed by the opposition group.

A total of 56 candidates contested the election for the governorship of Japan's capital, which is home to 13.5 million people.

 - Reuters