Lewis, who is hoping to stand for the state Senate, received the e-mail from Patrick Delany's wife, Jennifer, who was also hoping to stand. 

According to the website PolitickerNJ, she responded to a mass mailing from the Lewis campaign criticising New Jersey Governor Chris Christie by writing: "Imagine having dark skin and name recognition and the nerve to think that equalled [sic] knowing something about politics.

"Sure, knowing someone with fat purse strings is nice, but you have no knowledge."

In a statement issued shortly after the story appeared on the website, Delany, who resigned earlier this month, acknowledged the e-mail's authenticity and said it was the reason he resigned, not personal reasons as he originally claimed.

"I am deeply disappointed in my wife's decision to send that email to Mr. Lewis' campaign; it does not reflect my personal beliefs whatsoever," he said.

"In an attempt to repair the serious damage this has caused to our marriage, and to protect our kids from public humiliation, I decided to leave public life.

"On behalf of my family, we sincerely apologise to Mr. Lewis for any pain this caused him."

Delany, 42, had served in the Assembly since December, when he was selected by Republicans to replace Dawn Marie Addiego after she moved up to the state Senate.

Lewis, a Democrat, is challenging Addiego for her Senate seat, although there remains some doubts over his candidature as to whether he meets the state's four-year residency requirement.

Lewis, who equalled Jesse Owens' feat of winning four gold medals at Los Angeles in 1984, has refused to comment on the row.

But Burlington County Republican spokesman Bill Layton called the e-mail "racist" and "inexcusable" and said Delany brought it to his attention and decided to resign "in an attempt to protect his young children from a hurtful and embarrassing public spectacle".

"While it may have been politically expedient to publicly throw Pat under the bus, I believe letting him walk away quietly was the honourable, compassionate thing to do for someone who personally had done nothing wrong," said Layton.

"I was very clear with Pat from the beginning that if he chose to stay on the ballot, the Burlington County Republican Party would have withdrawn our support."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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