Assemblywoman says Democratic critic’s Web site crosses a line

by Enid Weiss
NJJN Bureau Chief/Middlesex

GOP Assemblywoman-elect Amy Handlin (R-Dist. 13) isn’t done fighting her election battles.

“It’s incredible someone could say such a thing,” Handlin said of a Web site that alleges she was handled with kid gloves by the region’s major daily newspaper because she is Jewish. “It’s so sick, you have no idea how many people have been calling me about this…. He’s chosen to make my Jewishness an issue.”

As of Jan. 2, businessman James Devine continued denouncing Handlin and her victory on his Web page. Devine runs Devine Media, which publishes several newspapers; on his site, he lambastes Handlin and her running mate, Assemblyman Samuel D. Thompson, for outspending Democrats William Flynn and Michael Dasaro for the seats in the traditionally Republican Monmouth County district.

According to the New Jersey State Board of Elections’ 20-day post-election reports, Handlin spent $78,131 on the election, Thompson, $107,045. Democrats Flynn and Dasaro spent a combined $74,121, and Flynn, another $17,867 on his own.

But what some may dismiss as typical political sour grapes took an even more sour turn when Devine charged that the Asbury Park Press did not report aggressively about Handlin because she is Jewish.

“Monmouth County Freeholder Amy H. Handlin was elected to the Assembly because she outspent her opponents by a six to one margin and used inordinate resources from the corrupt Republican organization to smear former Assemblyman Bill Flynn with outright lies,” Devine wrote on the Web page, handlin-thompson.org. “The truth about Handlin’s lies were presented to the Asbury Park Press, but the newspaper refused to discredit its favorite crook…. It is hard to imagine that the best explanation for this is that Handlin got special treatment from editor Skip Hidlay because she is Jewish, but that is the most solid theory I have heard.”

Hidlay was unavailable, but the paper’s managing editor, Gary Schoening, spoke to NJ Jewish News on the issue. “I’m not going to talk about [Devine] at all,” Schoening said. “Our position is we endorse not by religion, not by ethnicity, not by party affiliation. The standard is who will do the best job for the people.”

Handlin isn’t alone in finding the political attack offensive. She said most of the telephone calls and e-mails she’s received on the issue have been from people outside the Jewish community.

“I feel very heartened by that,” Handlin said. “I feel abused. Here we go again, but I do not feel intimidated.” In last year’s election campaign, Devine was responsible for a Web site posting intended to hurt Handlin’s standing with her party’s right wing that labeled her a “left-wing loony liberal lawmaker” because of her affiliation with the Jewish Federation of Greater Monmouth County and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs.

“Her religion is irrelevant to the issue,” said Etzion Neuer, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League’s NJ region. “It’s offensive…. It’s inappropriate, but is this anti-Semitic? Merely mentioning the assemblywoman’s Jewishness doesn’t necessarily make it anti-Semitic — but that doesn’t mean it’s not offensive and inappropriate. It may be a thinly veiled attempt to influence voters on the basis of religion.”

The ADL has long opposed appeals to religious, racial, or ethnic bias in political campaigns and is opposed to politicians’ soliciting group support on that basis, Neuer added.

As a board member of the Monmouth federation, Handlin serves as vice president of community relations. That role means she also sits on the JCPA national board.

Devine also accused Handlin of being complicit in the corruption that ran rampant in Monmouth County. In light of the Asbury Park Press’ stand against such corruption, the newspaper, Devine said in an interview with NJ Jewish News, should have come out against Handlin.

“She hasn’t said or done anything to distinguish herself from others,” Devine said. “The Asbury Park Press overlooked all her flaws. There’s no explanation for it. What makes her different from other members? There’s nothing in her ethical complexion that makes her better.”

Devine said his statements are not anti-Semitic and that Handlin was the first to bring her Jewishness into the public arena, not him. He also said he does not mean to imply people voted for her because she is Jewish.

“The electorate is more sophisticated than that,” Devine said, adding his statements about her Jewishness and the Asbury Park Press were not inappropriate. “I’m not polite — I’m honest.”

Meanwhile Handlin said she would like to see a boycott of Devine’s media holdings by Jews, Jewish businesses, and non-Jewish businesses that support her. Devine’s publications include the News Record in Elizabeth, Rahway, and Linden; The Patriot in Clark, Union, Hillside, and Roselle; and The Atom Tabloid & Citizen-Gazette in Middlesex County. “What he’s doing isn’t illegal but it is immoral,” Handlin said. “I’d like Jewish businesses advertising in his papers to pull their ads.”

Before the election, Devine told NJJN, his goal in hosting the earlier Web site was “to expose Amy Handlin’s hypocrisy…the truth beneath the veneer. She’s a totally ineffective puppet of a corrupt Republican organization.”

As a Democrat, Devine said, he was trying to help fellow Dems Flynn and Dasaro by hurting Handlin’s chances to win her primary. But he acted independently, not in connection with either Democratic candidate, he said. When Devine, who is not Jewish, was asked if his connecting her to the Jewish organizations was anti-Semitic in any way, he laughed and said, “That’s the most farcackte conclusion I’ve ever heard.”

Both Flynn and Dasaro said publicly they had nothing to do with the Web site.

Enid Weiss can be reached at enid@njjewishnews.com.

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