Conway camp calls on Rand Paul to return money from white separatists
Jack Conway’s U.S. Senate campaign challenged Republican candidate Rand Paul Friday to return $1,400 from three contributors with ties to what it termed white separatist organizations.
Finance and Administration Cabinet Secretary Jonathan Miller, a Conway supporter, told reporters during a teleconference that by accepting contributions from individuals whose views are “explicitly racist” Rand Paul shows his “associations are pretty much contrary to what Kentuckians think and believe.”
“This is an obvious example of folks supporting his very unusual campaign that is way out of touch with Kentucky’s values,” Miller said.
The New York Daily News reported Friday that, according to Federal Election Commission records, “self-described separatist” Virginia Abernethy gave Paul $500 in March; separatist movement leader William Johnson gave Rand Paul $500 in August 2009; and Carl Ford, a former member of the separatist League of the South, gave Paul $400 in March.
Jesse Benton, Paul’s campaign manager, said in an e-mail that the money would not be returned.