Sheldon Lisbon, Florida state house candidate, apologizes to the ADL

JTA — Florida statehouse candidate Sheldon Lisbon, a son of Holocaust survivors, apologized to the ADL after labeling comments by the group as “despicable.”

In an email July 12 to the Miami Herald, Lisbon wrote, “I used a term that is far removed from what the ADL represents. What I did was totally inexcusable and as a son of Holocaust survivors who was born in a Displaced Persons camp in Germany, my statement was reprehensible.”

The ADL had criticized Lisbon, who is Jewish, after he sent out an email to supporters in June with the subject line, “A vote for Shelly Lisbon is a vote for the Jewish community,” according to the Miami Herald.

In a response letter to Lisbon, the ADL wrote that “appealing to voters along religious lines is divisive,” according to the newspaper. Lisbon then told the editorial board of the Miami Herald that the ADL’s comments were “despicable.”

Lisbon, who had sent the email to members of his synagogue, is challenging state Rep. Joe Gibbons, who is African American, in the state’s newly drawn District 100. Redistricting put the two in the same district.

The new district puts only 43 percent of the voters in Broward County, the rest being in Miami-Dade County. The state’s Democratic primary is Aug. 14.