KOBE (Kyodo) -- Former Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito is set to secure reelection in Sunday's gubernatorial election in western Japan, held after he lost his position over power abuse accusations, defeating former Amagasaki Mayor Kazumi Inamura, according to Kyodo News exit polls.

The race, contested by a record seven candidates, took place after Saito, 47, faced a no-confidence motion unanimously adopted by the prefectural assembly in late September. He automatically lost his position after neither dissolving the assembly nor resigning.

During her election campaign, the 52-year-old Inamura, who ran as an independent, emphasized the need to revamp the administration thrown into confusion by the power abuse accusations scandal surrounding Saito.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's Liberal Democratic Party, which had backed Saito in the 2021 gubernatorial race, chose not to field its own candidate. Some LDP assembly members, along with opposition parties, supported Inamura, who served as mayor of Amagasaki in the same prefecture for 12 years starting in 2010.

Saito came under fire after a senior official, who apparently died by suicide, released a document in March accusing him of abusing his power, including yelling at staff and compelling local businesses to provide him with gifts.

Although the 60-year-old official reported the misconduct to the prefectural government's whistleblower office, he was reprimanded with a three-month suspension after an internal investigation determined that the document contained defamatory claims.

The move sparked controversy, prompting the assembly to establish a special committee to review the case in June, but the official was found dead less than two weeks before he was scheduled to testify in July.

Other candidates in the gubernatorial race in Hyogo, where the major port city of Kobe is the capital, included a former House of Councillors member backed by Japan's second-largest opposition party and the leader of a small extremist political group.