It is a win that wiped away the pain of defeat from a year ago.

Fumio Kishida, who was once former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe¡¯s handpicked successor, won the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election Wednesday, becoming the presumptive successor to Yoshihide Suga as the nation¡¯s leader.

With no candidates obtaining a majority in the first round, the runoff was a head-to-head race between first-place Kishida and second-place Taro Kono, the vaccine czar and No. 1 choice for prime minister in public opinion polls.