In August 2009 Tanaka nominated as a candidate for the Hyogo No.8 District of the House of Representatives in the 2009 general election.
Tanaka's nomination meant he automatically forfeited his House of Councillors seat.
On 30 August Hirayama was declared the official replacement to the House of Councillors seat.
Under the open list system used to elect members to the proportional representation block, Hirayama inherited the 618,025 ballots cast for Tanaka and Arita[2] as well as the 1.1 million votes cast in the party's name (under the system, a voter can vote for an individual candidate or the party as a whole).
[3] Upon entering the Diet Hirayama commenced a dispute with Tanaka, who was successful in the House of Representatives election and became the party's sole member of that House, concerning the distribution of the party's electoral funds.