In her third attempt, Sanae Takaichi won the Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) leadership in convincing and comfortable fashion in a runoff against Shinjiro Koizumi, winning 185 votes to Koizumi’s 156. He had largely held steady in opinion polling, which suggested that the race between Koizumi and Takaichi would be close. For the LDP, Takaichi’s victory is a mixed bag. KomeitoFor Komeito, Takaichi’s victory is unquestionably a defeat in that it could bring the coalition with the LDP to a breaking point. Finally, it is possible that Takaichi’s victory could be good news for Yoshihiko Noda and his Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP).