West Hartford, CT – The West Hartford Democratic town committee was shocked and angered by the Anti-Semitic tweet recently published by the Campaign Manager for Bill Wadsworth, the Republican candidate for the 5^th State Senate seat from Farmington. He is challenging State Representative Derek Slap, a Democrat and active member of the Jewish community in West Hartford, for the seat this coming Tuesday, February 26^th in the Special Election.

Jon Slifka, the Chair for the WHDTC, offered this statement on behalf of the town committee: “We all work very hard during election season, and twice as hard during a special election, to make our messages heard and to inform voters of all backgrounds of the real issues. When someone does something this despicable, it ruins the process for everyone. The WHDTC condemns this action whole-heartedly. It was wrong to publish, it was wrong to re-tweet, it was wrong in every manner possible and everyone in West Hartford is offended. She (Nicole Palmeri) and her candidate owe everyone an apology.”

The Tweet, published on Friday, and which has not yet been deleted, directly offered an Anti-Semitic message from the Republican candidate using terms such as “money-grabbing” to their audience. It pictured State Representative Derek Slap and U.S. Senator Dick Blumenthal and was clearly trying to insinuate Anti-Semitic tones.

Slifka added to his comment, “I know at this point, that Bill Wadsworth has fired Ms. Palmeri from his campaign, but frankly, that is not enough. We noticed in the Twittersphere that other prominent Republican groups and dignitaries “Re-tweeted” the message, such as J.R. Romano, the Chairman of the Republican Party in Connecticut and the Connecticut Young Republicans, among others. Does this mean that Republicans statewide support such messages and actions?”

The West Hartford Democratic Town Committee is a dedicated group of local individuals that care about their community and want to see everyone from all walks of life and with diverse beliefs and backgrounds thrive. The group meets every third Thursday at the West Hartford Town Hall and their website is WHDemocrats.org

The Special Election for the 5^th State Senate seat will be held on Tuesday, February 26^th.