Keith Hernandez Will Help Allen West Move (to Congress)

By Thomas Francis Tue., Feb. 16 2010 at 3:09 PM

Categories: Celebrities, Politics

Flickr: AllenWest

He was a star first baseman for the World Series champion Mets and a central character in one of the best Seinfeld episodes ever. But who knew that Keith Hernandez was also a paying subscriber to the right-wing rhetoric of our local congressional candidate, Col. Allen West?
In the last fundraiser quarter, West posted an astonishing figure: more than $677,000 in campaign money in his race to unseat Ron Klein from Florida's 22nd Congressional District. It's due in large part to West's sudden YouTube celebrity, which appears to have attracted some more established celebrities -- including Hernandez.

The mustached former Met is not a frequent campaign donor, but he has a Jupiter residence, and the West campaign must have captivated him, because on November 9, Hernandez gave West a $250 donation.

Among West's more deep-pocketed contributors: Supermarket mogul John Catsimadis made a $2,300 donation to West back in June. Last March, Amway founder Richard Devos, who has a home in Manalapan, made two donations, one of $2,400 and another of $2,200, to West. A billionaire, Devos owns the Orlando Magic.

Unfortunately for West, Hernandez doesn't have a very good track record for picking winners. His history shows contributions to Rudy Giuliani's disastrous presidential campaign and Rick Lazio's unsuccessful campaign for Senate in New York.