A prominent candidate is being accused of letting his religion interfere too much with his politics.

Honolulu Councilman Gary Okino said he is not backing down, and said moral issues are more important to him than party rules.

Okino said because he's running against the architect of the proposed civil unions law -- he's become a target of whom he called ?liberal radicals? he said are taking over the Democratic Party.

?If you want a society that is righteous and moral that's what you got to base your vote on,? Okino said. ?And it doesn't matter if a candidate is a Democrat or Republican.?

Okino endorsed a long list of candidates in an e-mail to religious conservatives. He described his choices as "best aligned with God's values or morality."

He said he evaluated the candidates based primarily on their positions on same sex marriage, abortion and assisted suicide.

Most of those he endorsed were Republicans. Governor candidate Mufi Hannemann was one of few Democrats to win Okino?s approval.

The Democrats Okino criticized most severely were those endorsed by the Progressive PAC, which he described as ?the dark side.?

A group of progressive Democratic Party activists Tuesday called for Okino to be expelled from the party for endorsing Republicans.

Ann Freed of the Democratic Women?s Caucus pointed out that the U.S Constitution prohibits any religious test for government office, a tenant she said Okino is violating.