Lee Whitnum, Biography

Contents

· 1. Overview

· 2. Early life, education and family

· 3. Politics

· 4. The Establishment Clause 

· 5. The Connecticut Courts 

Overview

Lee Whitnum is an American peace activist and politician and a longtime critic of AIPAC, the Israel Lobby, and U.S. funding for Israel, which she argues undermines peace and American interests. She campaigned on those and other issues in runs for Congress in 2008, the U.S. Senate in 2010 and 2012, governor in 2018, and governor again in 2026. 

As a congressional candidate, she strongly opposed white-collar H-1B immigration status. She has also advocated judicial reform and, as a gubernatorial candidate, says she is committed to reforming Connecticut’s judiciary, which she describes as among the most corrupt in the country. Whitnum says she personally encountered corruption. In court documents, she claims her criticism of Israel led to discrimination in the court system and that, at the urging of Zionists, she was targeted by the state’s top law-enforcement agency. “It is a sad day when a politician espousing well documented facts is browbeat into quietude by powerful, biased community.”

In court documents, Whitnum claims Connecticut’s Statewide Prosecutor’s Office criminally framed her. She pursued justice through three cases, including one that reached the United States Supreme Court, but says she never received justice. “It is a sad day when politicians and law enforcement break the laws of fairness, and the vows of their positions to do the bidding of wealthy constituents.” Whitnum says she spent years in Connecticut’s legal system, including 41 required criminal-court appearances for crimes “I did not commit, could prove I did not commit, but no judge would listen.”

Whitnum says the harassment ended in 2017 afteryears of fighting to have the chargesdismissed. She believes that experience uniquely qualifies her to reform Connecticut’s judiciary. “Litigants need the power to pre-emptive disqualify a judge,” says Whitnum.

Whitnum has advocated for the Establishment Clause and filed a 2011 lawsuit against the Town of Greenwich over its decision to allow Aner Shofty’s bar mitzvah at Greenwich Town Hall. She says she twice tried to reserve the venue for a Christian confirmation but was denied. “I don’t believe in preferential treatment for any ethnic group in our local governments, nor in our foreign policy.”

Early life, education and family

Whitnum earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Maryland University College and a master’s degree in administration, planning, and social policy from Harvard University, with a specialization in nonprofit accounting.

Whitnum worked for 12 years as a contract software engineer, later worked as an accountant, and also taught computer science and accounting.

Whitnum is Presbyterian, lives in Greenwich, Connecticut, and is unmarried with a long-term boyfriend.

The Establishment Clause

In 2023, Whitnum complained to the Town of Greenwich about a three-foot sign at the front desk that read “We stand with Israel” during the Gaza massacre. “I don’t stand with Israel, and I resent the town speaking for me or taking a side at all,” she said. At her urging, the sign was removed.

In 2011, Whitnum filed a lawsuit against the Town of Greenwich for allowing Aner Shofty’s bar mitzvah to be held at town hall. The town initially argued that the event was part of a traditional flag-raising ceremony, but Whitnum says depositions from Senator Richard Blumenthal and others showed it was a separate, invitation-only event held behind closed doors. After four years of litigation, Federal Judge Stefan Underhill dismissed the case, ruling that Whitnum lacked standing because she had not personally seen the widely publicized event. Whitnum says the ruling set an impossible standard and ignored two affidavits—from a friend and an employee—stating that they had tried to book the same venue for her Christian confirmation. She says the case is another example of bias in Connecticut’s court system. Whitnum appealed, but the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the decision.

Political career

CONGRESS 2008 - In 2008, Whitnum ran for Congress in Connecticut’s Fourth Congressional District and lost the primary to Jim Himes, who has held the seat for 17 years and counting. During a televised campaign debate, she criticized Himes for a recent trip during which he put his arm around then-Israeli Prime Minister Olmert.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uJ_ZI25B4M

Whitnum says politicians should be barred from taking what she calls five-star “indoctrination trips.” She argues that many members of Congress participate in these trips and are later rewarded with money from AIPAC-affiliated organizations. To weaken what she describes as the lobby’s influence over U.S. elections, Whitnum says she would introduce legislation prohibiting Connecticut politicians from attending them.

Whitnum filed a lawsuit against Governor Dan Malloy. She says that in 2008, while serving as Stamford’s mayor, Malloy appeared at a televised press conference and called her “anti-Semitic,” “motivated by hate,” and “deranged.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uJ_ZI25B4M

Whitnum first sued Malloy for slander on June 15, 2010. She later amended the complaint, saying Malloy continued making disparaging and inaccurate remarks about her in the Jewish Ledger on June 23, 2010. The case was dismissed after Whitnum did not respond to a motion to strike. She says she later regretted allowing the case to be dismissed because Malloy went on to become governor.

Whitnum says, “It’s a sad day when a candidate can’t discuss relevant foreign policy and the causes and effects of war without a politician, egged on by biased members of the Jewish community, calling you an antisemite and ‘deranged.’ Excuse me for reading. Excuse me for putting the United States first. I stand up and fight for what I know to be true. Malloy has dyslexia, by his own admission, which means he can’t read at all. No wonder he was so easily manipulated by a powerful minority.”

SENATE 2012 - In 2012, Whitnum ran for the U.S. Senate. During a televised debate, she blamed Israel for prolonged bloodshed in the Middle East and said the region’s death toll showed who the true victim was. “Israel is and has always been the aggressor, not the victim.” Then-Congressman Chris Murphy, who was also running for the seat, disputed her remarks. Whitnum said she “couldn’t let him get away with lying to the People” and called Murphy “a whore who sells his soul to AIPAC,” a statement that drew international attention.

Whitnum, a former Democrat, says she has faced a long pattern of mistreatment by Connecticut’s Democratic establishment, including political maneuvering and unfair tactics.

GOVERNOR 2018 - In 2018, Whitnum, then a candidate for governor, was not invited to a debate that included the other candidates. After contacting Democratic State Central, she says she was told that Brookfield Township had no legal right to exclude her because the debate was a public event held in a public venue. Whitnum attended, but a Brookfield committee member demanded her removal. She refused and was dragged from the stage by a police officer. After the debate, Nick Baletto of the Democratic State Central Committee said Whitnum clearly “didn’t have the temperament.”

“So there you have it. The Democratic State Central tells me in the morning I have every right to be there and encourages me to go and that same night they are criticizing me for attending,” Whitnum said. She also says she has faced a long pattern of poor treatment, including preferential treatment for candidates. Whitnum says she left the Democratic Party and became an independent.