HARTFORD, Conn. _ Ed Charamut, a Republican candidate for state Senate in Connecticut, apologized Wednesday for targeting his Jewish opponent with a mailer widely viewed as anti-Semitic but indicated he would remain in the race for the 9th Senate District seat.
On Monday, just two days after 11 people were killed in an attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue, Charamut's mailer began appearing in mailboxes, showed a grinning, digitally doctored image of his opponent, Matt Lesser, clutching hundred-dollar bills.
Despite the uproar, Charamut defended the mailers Tuesday and accused Lesser of playing identity politics. On Wednesday, he reiterated that the imagery was intended to portray only Lesser's purported record as a spendthrift Democrat, but apologized to Lesser, the Jewish community and "anyone who found the mailer to be anything other than a depiction of policy differences."
"It is clear now that the imagery could be interpreted as anti-Semitic," Charamut said in a written statement, "and for that we deeply apologize as hate speech of any kind does not belong in our society and especially not in our politics."
Lesser said Wednesday the mailers should be a "disqualifier from public office" for Charamut, but stopped short of calling on him to drop out, saying it was up to voters to decide who fills the seat vacated by Paul Doyle. In his statement, Charamut indicated he would remain in the race.
"We've seen in this campaign lines that had previously been respected, lines that we didn't cross, being crossed," Lesser said Wednesday, standing alongside Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin and several pastors. They denounced a recent surge in anti-Semitic incidents, which the Anti-Defamation League says rose last year by 53 percent nationally. Robert Bowers, the man accused of murdering 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue, had professed his hatred for Jews online, the authorities said, stewing in conspiracy-driven and baldly racist corners of the internet.
"It's mailings like this, mailings like the one sent out by Matt's opponent, that contribute to that kind of soup," said the Rev. Josh Pawelek, of the Unitarian Universalist Society.
The mailers, which were drawn up by an Ohio political strategy group, were paid for at least in part with taxpayer funds. Charamut's campaign is participating in the state's public campaign finance program and received $95,000 from the Citizens' Election Fund on Oct. 10, far eclipsing the $6,678 he raised from individual contributions.
The campaign paid Gahanna, Ohio-based KSC Creative $12,480.93 on Oct. 28 for direct mailers, which Charamut's treasurer confirmed were the ones criticized as anti-Semitic. The treasurer, Allan Greenspan, said he spoke with the strategy group and learned the artist who designed the mailers was Jewish, as is Greenspan himself.
KSC Creative's website touts an "award-winning creative team (that) turns message data into art that moves people to believe in powerful ideas." Jordan Ohler, a strategist at KSC Creative, referred questions to Charamut's campaign.
"When democrats, liberals or progressives encroach upon American Freedom," its Facebook description reads, "we believe it is our duty to fight back without fear of being labeled a 'negative campaigner.'"
Lesser, a five-term representative from Middletown, said he'd received no apology or response of any kind from Senate Republican leader Len Fasano or state GOP Chairman J.R. Romano.
Romano initially denied overtones of anti-Semitism in the mailer, telling The Hartford Courant on Tuesday, "When I look at that I don't see Jewish." Later in the day, however, Romano backtracked and said Charamut's literature "should be recognized as offensive, raising classic anti-Semitic tropes." He added that he had requested to sit down with the Anti-Defamation League, whose Connecticut chapter denounced the flier.
Lesser said three local Republicans _ Phil Pessina, a Middletown councilman; Sheila Daniels, who sat on the town's education board; and Christopher Sugar, a former candidate for the education board _ reached out to express their disgust.
While he stills supports Charamut over Lesser's "big government and spending" platform, William Wilson, chairman of Middletown's Republican Town Committee, said Wednesday he took issue with the imagery of Charamut's flier.
"I think the face is what bothered people the most. It was in poor taste," Wilson said. "If you put on there that Matt will take all of your money and spend it all, I don't have a problem with that. The message got lost in the picture and that was the problem I had with it."
Wilson said Charamut seemed taken aback by the controversy his mailers stoked, which was picked up by national news outlets and tweeted out by Chelsea Clinton. Charamut said people have left him "threatening" messages.
"We did talk briefly and I think he was thrown back a little bit by it," Wilson said. "He didn't expect to have the result that came out of it. It wasn't meant to be as nasty or disparaging as it looks."
