Nakano contested the July 2010 House of Councillors election but was unable to win a seat in the national proportional representation block. In 2012 he was appointed as Miyagi No.2 district leader of the Sunrise Party and resigned from the LDP. Following the Sunrise Party's merger with the Japan Restoration Party in November 2012, Nakano was elected to the national proportional representation block as a JRP member in the July 2013 House of Councillors election. With JRP's split in August 2014 he joined the newly formed Party for Future Generations. He was appointed as the party's secretary-general in November 2015. In December 2015 the party changed its name to the Party for Japanese Kokoro.