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Machon L'Torah Torah Center 968-4835 968-1679 Candidate with ties to Nazis, Klan, Birchers to run in Nov. BY JEFFREY GUYER Staff riter Gerald Carlson, 41, of Wayne is going to run once again as the Republican candidate for Congress in western Wayne County's 15th Congressional District in November. Defeated by U.S. Rep. William Ford (D-Taylor) in 1980, Carlson, whose can- didacy was officially re- nounced by his party in June, won the Republican primary in that district on Aug. 7 and will face Ford again in the fall. Carlson captured 54 per- cent of the vote against Westland insurance execu- tive Glen Kassel, even though party leaders took the unusual stance of mak- ing a primary endorsement of Kassel. What makes his victory even more surprising, how- ever, is the fact that Carlson is known to have previous ties with the American Nazi Party, the Ku Klux Klan and the John Birch Society. Dick Lobenthal, Michi- gan Region director of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, describes Carlson as a "long-time bigot" who has been in- volved in the "hate move- ment" for over 10 years. Ac- cording to Lobenthal, Carlson quit the Nazis and the Klan because they "we- ren't extreme enough for him." Taking into account Carlson's somewhat "ques- tionable past," the Republi- can Party of Michigan, ac- cording to chairman E. Spencer Abraham, took a very unusual position in the 15th District. Remaining neutral in every other dis- trict across the state, the party intervened in this race and voiced its support for Kassel. "We renounced his (Carlson's) candidacy in June when he first filed," said Abraham. "We didn't want to be associated with a man of his background again." According to Abraham, party leaders were both as- tonished and frustrated by the news that Carlson had emerged victorious from the election. Both Lobenthal and Ab- raham attribute Carlson's success to the low voter turnout at the polls. The fact that the party has taken an unusual posi- tion has had the effect of putting Carlson in an un- usual situation as well. In any election, and this one will be no different, the party launches a state-wide phone campaign, soliciting support for the candidates in every district. This year, Carlson's name will not be on the list. "Carlson will not the included in any -party. el. forts," Abraham said last week. "He is on his own." The 15th District is a heavily Democratic one, and no one feels that Carlson's candidacy poses any real threat to Ford. The fact remains, however, that Carlson, an outspoken white supremacist, will be a candidate in the November race. "It's reprehensible and outrageous that a man of his background could win when the voters are aware of his past," said Lobenthal. "It's reprehensible and outrageous that a man of his background could win when the voters are aware of his past." Lobenthal, like the party leaders in Lansing, gives little credence to Carlson's campaign. "It's conceivable, but not likely that he could win in November," says Lo- benthal. "What I'm worried about are the straight ticket voters. The ones who will vote straight Republican, regardless of who's run- ning." Reaction from Ford's office seems to carry on its surface an aura of noncha- lance. In a statement by Nancy Barbour, Ford's press secretary, on Tuesday, it was announced that ''we will run as we woul i against any other candi date. The only reason that Carlson won in the 15th is that he has a bigger name than Kassel." Carlson and Ford faced each other in 1980 in exactly the same situation that now confronts them. What is not widely known, however, is that when Ford was up for re-election in 1982, Carlson ran against him again. Only then he ran against Ford as a Democrat in the Democratic primary. Now it is 1984, and Carlson is trying his hand at being a Republican once again. Ac- cording to a spokesman at Ford's office, Michigan is not the only state in which Carlson has switched his partisan affiliations. Ford does not view Carlson as a major hurdle in November. He has been the incumbent Congressman in the 15th District for 20 years and, according to Barbour, "will continue to serve as he has in the past." Carlson was unavailable for comment on his candi- dacy or his victory in the primary. NEWS Reagan signs access bill Washington (JTA) — President Reagan signed into law ,a bill prohibiting public high schools from banning gatherings of stu- dents for religious or politi- cal purpose outside of class hours but on school prem- ises, a measure widely pro- tested by Jewish organiza- tions. The signing took place amid reports that some Reagan Administration lawyers felt its language would permit schools to allow use of their buildings by religious cults and ex- tremist groups, a warning issued repeatedly by major Jewish organizations dur- ing the measure's convo- luted journey through the Republican-controlled Se- nate and then an initial de- feat and subsequent ap- proval by the Democratic- controlled House just before adjournment for the elec- tion campaign. Still another problem, be- cause of assured constitu- tional challenges, experts said it was.doubtful that the new law would meet its cen- tral purpose of allowing student groups to conduct prayer sessions on school premises, regardless o stated non-interference with regular school hour- s.Four federal appeal courts and state appellat courts in New York an California have barred variety of religious activi ties by student groups i public schools, declarin they were barred by th First Amendment o church-state separation. The prospect, feared b Jewish organizations an pleasing to civil liberta rians, that the bill woul make room for cults and ex tremist political groups, re portedly was not precisel what the President an other supporters of schoo prayer had set out t achieve. Michigan representative David Bonior, George Cro kett Jr., William Ford an Sander Levin opposed th legislation -- , .-