Council Races
November 4th, 2009
Republicans picked up two seats on the City Council yesterday, bringing their total to five seats out of 51. The GOP gains came in District 19 in Bayside, where Republican Dan Halloran defeated Democrat Kevin Kim, and in Flushing’s 20th council district, where Peter Koo, a Republican and businessman, defeated Democrat Yen Chou. The three incumbent Republican councilmembers — Erich Ulrich, James Oddo, and
Vincent Ignizio — all held on to their seats.
The race in district 19, to fill the seat formerly held by Tony Avella, was particularly nasty with candidates lobbing charges about the other one’s tactics and fundraising. At one point, the Daily News reported, Kim’s forces tried to capitalize on “Halloran’s acknowledged involvement in a pre-Christian pagan religion, Theodism.”
In the Flushing race, which attracted less attention, Koo, who has run for office before, captured the seat now held by Comptroller-elect John Liu.
Unlike primary day, yesterday was a good day for council incumbents. All those who managed to win their primaries in September kept their seats on Election Day. Diana Reyna held off a stiff challenge — and the opposition of the powerful Brooklyn Democratic boss, Vito Lopez — to keep her seat from Bushwick, and longtime Brooklyn politician Al Vann will get to remain in politics for another four years as he fended off a spirited challenge in Bed-Stuy from Mark Winston Griffith.
For all results go to Gotham Gazette’s election page.
By Gail Robinson on November 4, 2009, 11:46 amIn category: Electoral Politics, Gotham City | No Comments »

