Edison Democratic Chairman Back In The News, Accused Of Racism By Fellow Democrat

EDISON, NJ - A member of the Edison Township Democratic committee is accusing the powerful party chairman — who is also an Edison police officer — of racism, and of deliberately not helping her submit her re-election petition once he discovered she was black.

Edison Democratic committeewoman Deborah Andrews filed a lawsuit against Edison Democratic chairman Keith Hahn, according to a report on MyCentralJersey.com. Hahn is also an Edison police officer.

This is not Hahn's first time in the headlines: In 2015, Hahn was heavily criticized after he posed for a photo with then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, who was in town for the Barclays PGA golf tournament at the Plainfield Country Club. Hahn was at the club working security. Fellow Democrats, and some media outlets, bashed him for posing with Trump because of his position as the leader of the Democratic party. Hahn defended himself, saying “I’m a cop first, Democratic chairman second ... Mr. Trump was gracious, respectful and more importantly appreciative of the impromptu security detail provided by the Edison Police ... Edison Mayor Lankey (also a Democrat) greeted him at the door and posed for photos as well.” (Read that story here: Trump In N.J. Smiling With Democrats, Cops Causes Uproar)

In her suit, Andrews said she met with Hahn at her house on March 18 to have him sign her petition to keep her seat in a re-election. That was the first time they met face to face and it was then that he learned she was African-American, she says. There are 156 members of the Edison Democratic committee; Andrews is the only black woman.

It was after that meeting that Andrews said the petition was not completed. Hahn was also supposed to turn it into Edison Township clerk Cheryl Russomano, but he never did.

Hahn told MyCentralJersey he apologizes "for any inconvenience this has caused," and said the mistake had "absolutely nothing to do with her being African-American."

"Secondly, whether the mistake was made by me or the Municipal Clerk Cheryl Russomano, I take full responsibility for the mix-up and have offered to help correct the problem in any way allowable by law," he said.