Josh Mandel Won’t Return White Supremacist Donation
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Josh Mandel, the Jewish Ohio treasurer who ran for the U.S. Senate in 2012, will not return a campaign donation from a white supremacist.
An array of Republican candidates who have received donations from Earl Holt, the president of the Council of Conservative Citizens, are returning his donations in the wake of reports that the man alleged to have killed nine black worshippers in a church in Charleston, S.C. was inspired by the group.
Mandel, who unsuccessfully ran for Senate in 2012, will not return the $1,500 his campaign received, Chris Berry, Mandel’s spokesman, told the Toledo Blade on Tuesday.
“The money he donated was spent over two and a half years ago, so it cannot be returned,” Berry said. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) was reelected in 2012.
Dylann Roof, the 21-year old in custody, is not known to have had any ties with Holt’s group.
A number of Republicans, including presidential candidates Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), have returned the funds to Holt or donated their equivalent to a charity, including one in memory of the nine victims.
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