Mayoral primary gets ugly

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – To hear them talk about each other, the mayoral candidates facing off in the Democratic primary are barely qualified to be dogcatcher in this casino city. Campaign mudslinging has become an art form.

“My wife and I are born and raised here, and we’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly, and this one is getting uglier by the day,” said retired steelworker Martin Fallon, 62.

Facing off in Tuesday’s primary are incumbent Lorenzo Langford, 49, a former casino dealer and city councilman, and Bob Levy, 58, a veteran lifeguard making his first bid for elected office.

Taxes, jobs and public safety have taken a back seat:

• Last month, hundreds of fliers containing racial slurs turned up on car windshields and front doors. “Vote for the whites. Vote Levy Mayor. White Power! White Power!” they said. Langford – who is black – and Levy have both denied distributing them.

• Levy drew criticism for a TV commercial in which he was pictured with his wife of 41 years, Hazel, who is black. In it, she said Levy was thrown out of Atlantic City High School for dating her; Langford’s campaign branded that a lie.

• Langford, who sued the city in 1999 after his $30,000-a-year job with the Board of Education was eliminated, shared in an $850,000 settlement after he was elected mayor. “The Attorney General called it ‘improper’ and ‘illegitimate.’ Some people might call it embezzlement,” said a Levy flier.