Hokkaidō 9th district, like neighboring 8th and 10th district, was considered a "Democratic kingdom" (minshu-ōkoku), a stronghold of the
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). From its creation in 1996 until 2012 it had been represented by DPJ co-founder
Yukio Hatoyama. In 2012, Hatoyama retired. The LDP had nominated Hokkaidō prefectural assemblyman and former Olympic speed skater
Manabu Horii as their candidate in July 2012.[3]
In the 2000, 2003 and 2005 general elections, the
Liberal Democratic Party's candidate was
Hirofumi Iwakura, later mayor of
Tomakomai, Iburi Subprefecture. In 2000, Iwakura lost the district to Hatoyama by a margin of less than 3,000 votes.
Before the 1994 electoral reform, the area had been part of
Hokkaido 4th district where five representatives were elected by
single non-transferable vote. Yukio Hatoyama (New Party Sakigake), Tatsuo Takahashi (LDP) and Tomoko Kami (JCP) had already stood as candidates there in 1993.