He Never Gave The Slightest Hint
by digby
Justin Elliot is reporting that the NY GOP is saying that they will "cut loose" this fellow who won the Republican nomination for the 18th district because they didn't know about his "racist and ethnocentric" views prior to the revelation yesterday. Of course not. As they said it doesn't have "anything to do with the Republican Party. Certainly it has nothing to do with republican party principles."
Here's what the Republicans who voted for him did know about:
Russell, whose campaign website focuses on immigration and opposition to a housing desgregation settlement in Westchester, has not responded to a request for comment. But his campaign manager, Frank Morgenthaler, told the Journal News that the scrutiny on Russell's racial views is "mud-slinging."
Here's an interesting clip of a local newscast (from Russell's campaign YouTube account) that provides some context on what seems to be his primary motivating issue: opposition to a housing desegration settlement that Westchester entered into last year. The deal, reached after mostly white Westchester was found to have failed to comply with fair housing rules, requires the county to build public housing and market it to minority groups.
"Our neighborhoods have to be protected," Russell says.
No wonder they were stunned and shocked to find out he held racist views. He never gave the slightest hint about it.
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