WASHINGTON (JTA) — David Williams, the GOP candidate for Kentucky governor, repudiated a supporter for accusing his opponent of seeking "Jewish money."
The Lexington-Herald Leader reported June 20 that attorney Larry Forgy accused Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear of choosing former Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson to run for lieutenant governor "to attract New York and Hollywood Jewish money."
"There’s no other reason why to pick a big-city, liberal mayor to run for lieutenant governor in a rural, conservative state like this," said Forgy, who lost a gubernatorial bid in 1995 to Democrat Paul Patton.
Williams distanced himself from Forgy’s remarks, but accused Beshear’s campaign of keeping the story alive.
"I don’t think it’s appropriate to make those sorts of comments about anyone," Williams said. "I find it rather troubling that really it’s the Beshear campaign and their supporters that are repeating those sort of comments."
In a June 22 interview with Kentucky’s CN-2, Forgy stood by his remarks, and added that he expected liberal activists like George Soros, Steven Spielberg and Barbra Streisand to contribute to Beshear.
"This is the big race in the nation between now and ’12," Forgy said. "There is a lot of Soros money, Steven Spielberg, I wouldn’t even be surprised if Barbra Streisand … they’re going to come in and raise a lot of money."
Fact checking from CN-2 revealed that of the $5 million Beshear and Abramson have raised to date, a total of $11,650 came from 13 donors in New York City and $2,250 came from four donors in Los Angeles.
The latest poll of likely voters conducted between June 6 and June 8 showed Beshear leading Williams 51 percent to 30 percent.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
