Candidate’s letter slammed as anti-Semitic

A Florida candidate for City Commission reportedly sent an anti-Jewish campaign letter to a church where he is lector. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that James DePelisi sent a letter Jan. 29 to the 1,200 congregants of All Saints Catholic Church asking them to “choose one of our own” in the March 13 election against incumbent Irwin Harlem and former Commissioner Roger Wishner, who are both Jewish. “My opponents, knowing that I am very involved in the Church, may attack my faith in God and my Christian moral beliefs, in hope that it will dissuade non-Christian voters,” DePelisi wrote, according to the Sun-Sentinel. Wishner accused DePelisi of trying to gather support using “anti-Jewish” rhetoric. “He is claiming that his Jewish opponents are attacking his faith, which is not true,” Wishner said. DePelisi noted in his defense that his wife is Jewish, and that in a prior election that he lost to Commissioner Donald Rosen, a flier that was sent out put down his Christian and pro-life values, the Sun-Sentinel reported. The local Anti-Defamation League office urged candidates to leave religion out of the race.