Grayson returns to seek old Congress seat
Liberal firebrand Alan Grayson is back, revealing Tuesday he will challenge U.S. Rep. Darren Soto for his old Central Florida seat in Congress in what likely will be a heated Democratic primary.
Grayson had been considering a number of congressional seats to seek, but he told the Orlando Sentinel he chose District 9 in Osceola, Orange and Polk counties that he represented for four years because “that’s where people want me.”
“Our country is facing a crisis,” said Grayson, 60, of Windermere. President Donald Trump “is trampling on our democracy. Voters deserve to have somebody fighting against that.”
The race pits Grayson, who garnered both controversy and a national profile in his six years in Congress, against Soto — who, as the first Florida congressman of Puerto Rican
descent, has been a vocal advocate for the community in the wake of Hurricane Maria and the influx of evacuees to Central Florida.
Aubrey Jewett, a professor of political science at University of Central Florida, said “it’s possible it could be a fairly civil Democratic primary. But the odds of that are pretty slim. Most likely, it’ll get personal and nasty.’’
Soto, D-Kissimmee, called it “a classic race between a uniter versus a divider. He had an opportunity to run in several open seats and help make the Democrats the majority, but he didn’t consider what was best for Democrats but rather his personal ambition.”
But Soto, 40, said he was “not going to engage in mudslinging.”
Asked about taking on Soto, Grayson said, “I wouldn’t put it that way. I’m running for my old seat. … That seat doesn’t belong to anybody in particular. It’s up to the voters.”
Grayson, who has already made one return to Congress in 2012 after losing to U.S. Rep. Dan Webster two years earlier, has been raising money since the moment he lost the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate in August 2016.
Since leaving office in January 2017, Grayson has raised more than $500,000, leaving him with almost $700,000 in cash on hand — though he still has debts and loans of more than $2 million from past races, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Soto has raised about $570,000 and has $364,000 cash on hand.
Grayson had filed to run against Webster in District 11, but said from the beginning that was only a stand-in until he made a final decision before Friday’s qualifying deadline. Candidates for Congress aren’t required to live in the district they run in.
While there had been speculation he could run in District 15, which includes Lake County and where Republican U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross is retiring this year, Grayson said his old seat was the best fit. And he had no issue with running against Soto in a district with a large Puerto Rican population.
“I don’t anticipate any problems,” Grayson said. “I have strong support across the board, in the Anglo community, African-American community and the Hispanic community as well. I could say my support [in the Hispanic community] is stronger than his. I’ve actually done useful things for the Hispanic community.”
Grayson also attacked Soto, saying his record on guns — which included an A rating from the NRA when he was a state legislator in 2010 — “disturbed” him.
Grayson, who said the first thing Democrats should do if they win the House should be a cost-ofliving increase for Social Security, cited Soto’s answer to the West Orlando News in 2016 that he was “open-minded to phasing out benefits or eliminating them altogether to assure long term solvency.”
Soto pointed to his backing by the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare and his co-sponsoring of the Social Security 210 Act, which would increase benefits and adjust for cost of living.
Regarding other criticisms of his past positions, “Grayson is more than welcome to harp on votes that are six to eight years old,” Soto said. “Voters are more concerned about what’s happening in their life now and going forward. … This race is about my record in Congress, the job I’ve done and the future.”
Grayson, known for his aggressive campaign style and sharp rhetoric — including describing the Republican health care plan as “die quickly” — has long been a controversial figure, even within his own party.
In April 2016, a House Office of Congressional Ethics report said there was “a substantial reason to believe” he violated House ethics rules in connection with his hedge fund and other actions. Grayson has called the report “nonsense” and noted how there was no follow-up investigation.
Grayson also got into an altercation with a Politico reporter in 2016 after being asked about allegations of domestic abuse by his former partner, which he has vigorously denied. The incident was one reason PolitiFact fired him as a contributor in March, following a backlash from journalists, its editor said — though Grayson’s active campaign also played a role.
Former Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid called for Grayson to lose the 2016 Senate primary to then-U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy. Murphy defeated Grayson 59 to 18 percent in the primary, but Murphy went on to lose to Marco Rubio.
The Democratic primary for District 9 is scheduled for Aug. 28. Sean Allen Buchan and 2016 GOP candidate Wayne Liebnitzky are running in the Republican primary.