In July 2017, the Democratic Party suffered a very poor showing in the Tokyo prefectural election. Some senior party members blamed the results, in part, on the ongoing questions surrounding Renhō's citizenship. In response to these concerns, she provided evidence of her renunciation of Taiwanese citizenship at a press conference later that month. Days after her press conference, and days following the resignation of former prime minister Yoshihiko Noda as party secretary-general, Renhō resigned as head of the party, stating that she had not shown sufficient ability to lead it.