County GOP Drops Support for Jim Kirkland

Following the disclosure of an email containing anti-Semitic statements, the Montgomery County Republican Party has officially withdrawn support for District 1 council candidate Jim Kirkland, removing his name from the GOP sample ballot and from the party website.

Kirkland ran unopposed in the June primary. He is running against incumbent Roger Berliner in November’s general election.

On Tuesday, a Washington Post reporter came across an email he had received from Kirkland on Feb. 5, the Washington Post reports. In the email, Kirkland complained that his grandmother, 86, had been fined $500 for failure to complete the work on her roof over the 2013 Christmas holiday.

Kirkland not only blamed a Jewish couple in his neighborhood for reportedly filing an anonymous complaint, but said that the large Jewish population in the county was responsible for half of the property code complaints the county receives, according to the Post.

“The obvious complaint is usually Jewish,” Kirkland wrote, according to the Post. “We have concluded that this amounts to an unacknowledged (Jewish) policy of forcing blue-collar residents out of the county. Sounds harsh? MAYBE IT’S TRUE!”

Kirkland’s name remains on the official state ballot voters will see on Nov. 4.

Berliner, who is Jewish, commended the GOP for withdrawing support for Kirkland.

“I’m grateful that the Republican Party recognizes there is no place for people like that in the political process,” Berliner told the Post.

>>>Read the full story at The Washington Post.

>>Montgomery County’s GOP has dropped support for District 1 council candidate Jim Kirkland. Credit: Screenshot of Montgomery Community Media YouTube video.

===========

Have a news tip? Email deb.belt@patch.com. You can also post your own news, events and announcements on Patch by following these directions. Curious about how our new commenting platform, Disqus, works? Learn more about it here and start interacting with your neighbors on Patch.