Fla. candidate accused of being atheist (and nudist): ‘I am Jewish’

JTA — A candidate in an Orlando-area primary is disputing claims in a flier mailed to voters that he is a nudist and an atheist.

Jeffrey Goldmacher, who is running in Tuesday’s Republican primary for the Osceola County Commission, said he lives on a “clothing optional resort” at the Cypress Cove Resort and Spa in Poinciana, not a “nudist colony.”

“Only lepers and ants live in colonies,” Goldmacher, 56, told the Orlando Sentinel.

The retiree disputed the claims that he is an atheist by saying he is Jewish and that he won’t promote nudism as a commissioner.

“I am Jewish,” he told the Sentinel. “I just don’t belong to a temple or a synagogue. I practice my religion in my own way.”

The mailer, sent by the Florida-based group With Women We Will Win, asks voters to “say yes to decency and no to nudism and atheism on our county commission.” The organization’s Facebook page says it supports women candidates for office, according to the Sentinel. Goldmacher is running against two men.

Goldmacher, a first-time candidate, says he’s not sure if the mailer will cost him votes.

“At least there’s one candidate who believes in transparency,” he told an audience during a recent forum, the Miami New Times reported. “I have nothing to hide and no place to hide it.”