Rat Finks Investigation

The Rat Finks Investigation was a political scandal that occurred in New Jersey in 1966. The Rat Finks were an ultra-conservative faction within the New Jersey Young Republicans that were accused of being racist and anti-Semitic.

During one of the group’s national conventions in Wildwood, New Jersey, a delegate complained that the group had issued a songbook with lyrics to popular songs that were derogatory toward blacks and Jews. State Senator Nelson Stamler charged that the group had discouraged blacks and Jews from joining, and asked then-New Jersey Attorney General Arthur Sills to launch an investigation. The Republican State Chairman, Webster Todd, also launched an investigation. The state Young Republican chairman, Peter Butler, accused Stamler of seeking to smear the right wing of the Republican Party. Richard Plechner, a New Jersey resident, was forced to resign his post as National Young Republican vice chairman as a result of the controversy.