There's always a lot of political name-calling on the eve of election day, but we're pretty sure this one is a first. Democratic Queens Council candidate Kevin Kim is alleging that his Republican rival isn't just an anti-Semite — he's also a pagan. Kim's campaign is accusing Dan Halloran of insulting Jews in his attempt to downplay the role of blood sacrifice in the ancient Germanic religion of Theodism, a faith in which the City Hall hopeful has risen to the title of "'First Atheling,' or King," of a New York City area pre-Christian group according to the Queens Tribune.
Paganism Becomes Key Issue in Queens City Council Race
Asian Voters Turned Out For Primary Elections
While voter turnout for Tuesday's primary elections was really low—the NY Times suggests it could be the "lowest in modern New York City history"—one group did use their electoral muscle. In another article, the Times reports that aside from John Liu's 38% showing in the Comptroller race, "Asian-American candidates won Democratic primaries in three City Council districts on Tuesday... Of the 51 Council districts, 32 had primaries on Tuesday. Turnout in the three districts where Asian-Americans won was among the highest in the city: 17 to 18 percent, compared with a citywide average of 11 percent, according to the Board of Elections." Margaret Chin (pictured) defeated incumbent Alan Gerson for Council District 1; Yen Chou won the primary for Liu's old Council seat in Flushing; and Korean-American Kevin Kim won Tony Avella's old Council seat in northeast Queens. Hunter College sociologist Margaret Chin (no relation to the pol) said, "It’s significant for the whole population to see all these Asian-Americans taking political roles for the first in public. The West Coast broke this barrier close to two decades ago."

