WASHINGTON, 7 September — First, right-wing American Jews went after US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. Now they’ve set their sights on her father, 30-year Georgia state representative Billy McKinney, as their next target.
McKinney, 75, has become the focus of the Atlanta-area Jewish community after his most recent criticism of Jews, which resulted in skyrocketing donations for his challenger’s campaign.
The problem? When he was asked about his daughter’s disappointing campaign the day before her defeat in the Aug. 20 primary, McKinney told a television interviewer: “Jews have bought everybody.” When asked to further explain his daughter’s political difficulties, he said: “Jews. J-E-W-S.”
McKinney, a senior Democrat in the Georgia state house and well-known civil-rights leader, has held his seat for 30 years with little difficulty.
But he was forced into a Sept. 10 runoff after failing to obtain the required majority. McKinney picked up 48 percent of the vote on Aug. 20, to his challenger’s, John Noel’s, 46 percent. The winner will gain the seat, as there is no Republican challenger.
Billy McKinney’s race follows two US congressional battles in which Israel supporters helped finance the defeats of Georgia’s Cynthia McKinney, and Alabama’s Earl Hilliard, both of whom had received campaign donations from Arab Americans, and were viewed by some Jewish lobbies as being too pro-Palestinian.
The Jewish targeting of these black politicians has ignited black-Jewish tensions. Several African-American political figures believe Jews are attempting to choose their black leaders.
“I definitely have some feelings about any outside group exerting this kind of influence in a race, and I’ve been receiving angry calls from black voters all day, saying they should rally against Jewish candidates,” Texas Congressman Eddie Bernice Johnson said last week in an interview with the New York Times.
“To have non-African-Americans from around the country putting millions into a race to unseat one of our leaders for expressing her right of free speech is definitely a problem,” said Johnson, who is the Democratic Chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus.
And Billy McKinney’s opponent has admitted Jewish support in his campaign: “The number of Jewish folks who have called me and offered financial support has been nothing short of outstanding,” Noel told Forward magazine “I wasn’t even going to make it a campaign issue, but it has become one,” Noel, who is white, told reporters.
Noel, a self-employed lighting contractor, said he has received calls from many Jewish voters in his district asking him how they can help him defeat Mr. McKinney.
“(Billy McKinney) has gotten out of control with his anti-Semitism,” said Sherry Frank, southeast director for the American Jewish Committee. She told the Washington Times that the Jewish community makes up about 5 percent of the district in metropolitan Atlanta.
“So Jews have reasons to want him out. Individual Jews are urging folks to give (Noel) money, just as blacks are urging to get out the vote for Billy. The question is whether (the Jewish bloc) will succeed,” said Frank.
Jewish activists are working hard indeed to succeed. They created a “goodbyecyntihia.com” website and last week introduced a “goodbyebilly.com” site in preparation for the runoff. The sites feature anti-McKinney messages and requests contributions and volunteers.
“We are trying for daddy now,” said William Head, an Atlanta criminal defense attorney who organized the effort to remove Mrs. McKinney.
Head spent about $10,000 of his own money to defeat Mrs. McKinney.
