State Democrats
Party hopes he won’t challenge incumbent for Congress
are concerned about Alan Grayson’s potential campaign plans.
Grayson has been out of office for more than a year, but his fundraising emails keep coming.
Soon, the Florida Democratic Party could find out on which race all that money could be spent. And it may not like the answer.
One expert said a scenario that worries party leaders is a primary battle against U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, D-Kissimmee, who succeeded Grayson in District 9 in Osceola County and southern Orange County.
“He doesn’t care what people think, including his own party,” said Aubrey Jewett, a professor of political science at the University of Central Florida who closely follows local politics. “That endears [him] to some people and drives some people crazy. That’s the nature of Alan Grayson.”
In an interview Thursday, Grayson, 59, wouldn’t say definitively if he was running or which seat he might choose to contest. He said he doesn’t have to make a decision until qualifying ends in June.
But when asked if he was considering challenging an incumbent Democrat such as Soto, he responded, “I think that in that circumstance, it would [be] a Democrat challenging me.”
Grayson, long known as a progressive firebrand in his six years in Congress, has been raisAlan ing money since the moment he lost the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate in August.
“You can be a progressive, and you can win,” reads one Team Grayson email from Jan. 9. A Jan. 4 email piggybacks on the winter storm hitting the East Coast as “Winter Storm Grayson.”
Other emails call President Donald Trump “the Mango Mussolini,” claim Congress is filled with “the glad-handers, the empty suits, and the sacks of hooey,” and describe the GOP tax bill as “Deja Voodoo Economics.”
All end with a “Contribute” button.
Since leaving office in January 2017, Grayson has raised more than $260,000, leaving
him with more than $500,000 in cash on hand — though he still has debts and loans of more than $2 million stemming from past races, according to the Federal Election Commission.
“I’ve raised a lot of money, and I’m likely to continue to do so,” he said. “Since the 2016 primary, I think I’ve received more than 30,000 individual contributions. Our supporters have kept it going.”
Under campaign law, Grayson is allowed to continue to raise money because he’s filed to run in District 11 in Lake, Sumter and Hernando counties, a seat now held by Republican U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster. But he said that was just a technicality to allow him to stockpile funds for any potential bid for the House or another federal office.
District 11 is a seat where Republicans hold a 15-point advantage, according to the Cook Political Report. The other districts near Grayson’s home in Windermere are held by Democratic Reps. Stephanie Murphy, D-Winter Park, Val Demings, D-Orlando, and Soto.
Soto, 39, the first congressman of Puerto Rican descent from Florida, had a reputation as a moderate when he served in the state House and Senate, Jewett said. But since taking office in Washington he’s been active in issues ranging from renewing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals act, or DACA, to the influx of evacuees from Puerto Rico to Florida since Hurricane Maria in September.
“He’s progressive,” the professor said. “But he’s not Alan Grayson progressive.”
With a 14-point victory in 2016 and serving a district Cook ranks as having a 5-point advantage for Democrats, Soto “has a pretty smooth path to re-election,” Jewett said. “For the Democratic Party, they probably don’t want a competitive primary. It might get negative and pull Soto to the left.”
Soto cited his strong support in the Hispanic and particularly the Puerto Rican communities but said, “my main focus right now is on the issues my constituents care about, the economy, health care and finding a DACA fix.”
He added, however, that Hispanic support “will certainly be a factor.”
Matthew Ryan KirkBoggs of St. Cloud, a former Grayson deputy field director from his congressional campaigns, said he supports the idea of Grayson taking on Soto.
“I would be ecstatic to see him take on consummate centrist Darren Soto,” said Kirk-Boggs, who stressed that he spoke only for himself and not for Grayson. “I don’t think there’s a risk of losing that seat to a Republican. And the argument it would split the party — I don’t care. I want the best candidate.”
Grayson had controversies to deal with while in Congress, including an ethics investigation into his hedge fund and allegations of abuse by the mother of his children, which he’s denied. KirkBoggs acknowledged “he’s really not the most fun person to be around, quite frankly.”
But he’s “a great campaigner,” he added. And as for whether it’s risky to take on Soto in what’s becoming a heavily Hispanic district, so soon after Maria and in the midst of the Dreamers debate, he echoed many on the far left in saying he wanted a strict focus on economic issues.
Leah Carius, the Osceola Democratic chair, said a primary against Soto would be “very challenging” given his popularity.
“I would prefer Grayson go flip a red seat,” she said. “That’s what we need. And that’s what the country is asking for.”