Issue #179: Alan Grayson's Elections in Florida - Part 3: The Senate Meltdown

Should have stayed in the House

Today’s issue continues my series looking at the electoral ups and downs of former Florida Congressman Alan Grayson. If you need some refreshers, my first two pieces are below.

• Part 1: Grayson’s Controversial First Term and landslide loss

• Part 2: Grayson returns to Congress and controversies

At the end of issue 2, Grayson was sitting in the deep-blue Florida 9th district, a Hispanic-opportunity seat covering Osceola County and parts of Orange and Polk. Grayson’s combative style was at times a headache for Democrats but also a joy for others as he directed that ire at Republicans. However, from 2013 and into 2015, Grayson began to feud more with the Obama administration over intervening to aid Ukraine after the invasion of Crimea, or aid Syrian rebels that fought Assad. His abrasive style, including fights with reporters, further led to concerns about his temperament.

Grayson’s antics in Congress would further the rift between him and Democratic Party leaders. However, it would really blow up when it became clear Grayson had his eyes on running for the US Senate in 2016.

The Party’s Chosen Candidate

In late 2014 and early 2015, the national Democratic Party had its eyes on Marco Rubio’s US Senate seat. The seat would be up in 2016 and a Rubio presidential run was already being openly discussed. Of course at the time this led to discussion about a rivalry between Rubio and former Governor Jeb Bush. This was before American’s wanna-be dictator made his entrance into the race and dashed both their Presidential dreams. Rubio run or not, the Senate seat was viewed as a key Democratic target.

To flip the seat, Democrats needed the strongest candidate possible. In that, they believed they had their man in Patrick Murphy; Congressman for the Florida 18th. Murphy had been elected to Congress in 2012, defeating firebrand incumbent Allen West in a seat that backed Mitt Romney by 4 points.

Murphy represented a lean-GOP but swingish seat. The district had the then-Democratic St. Lucie County, a working class county with a sizeable black population, as its Democratic anchor. The northern exurbs of Palm Beach and exurban Martin County were much more firmly Republican.

Murphy earned major Democratic brownie points when he defeated West in 2012. Allen West had won in the 2010 red wave in the coastal 22nd, a swingish seat for the time. West was an outspoken Tea Party fringe politician. He holds far-right views to this day and would eventually move to Texas and become its Party Chair just a few years ago; before resigning to try and primary Governor Abbott from his RIGHT! Anyway, when West won in 2010, it seemed like he may be destined as a one-term fluke, especially after the 2012 redistricting map made the seat more Democratic. It was still a coast-hugging seat, but was now leaning much more Democratic; likely too blue for any West chance.

However, two democrats were already in a big primary for the right to take on west. One was the newcomer Patrick Murphy, son of the prominent developer Tom Murphy. Patrick came into the campaign with youthful energy and quickly began to garner support; taking aim at West and the Tea Party movement in general. However, his opponent was longtime Palm Beach politician Lois Frankel; who’d served as a state house member and Mayor of West Palm Beach. The primary was very unfortunate, as it pitted a longtime great public servant with a youthful new face with lots of potential.

That all changed, however, when a game of musical chairs suddenly took place thanks to 2012’s redistricting. Republican Congressman Tom Rooney, who was poised to be in the swingish 18th, opted to move to an open seat based in the rural middle portion of the state; a deep red area. West then announced he was moving to the new swingish 18th! This was clearly designed to give West a chance to win while the Republicans tried to find a less controversial candidate for the 22nd. With West moving, Patrick Murphy declared “West can run but he can’t hide” and followed West to the 18th!

If anyone is confused here is a graph, lol.

The move allowed Murphy to defeat West even as the seat voted for Romney; while Frankel would easily win the 22nd. This move endeared Murphy to the party as a great warrior and team player.

Murphy would spend the first two years working to bring funds back to the district while also amassing a moderate voting record. With time Murphy would tout having one of the most bipartisan voting records in Congress. This would NOT endear him to the left-wing of the party. His moderation often came on economic and business issues; while he maintained a very liberal record on social issues and the environment. Murphy had started his adulthood as a Republican, donating to Romney in the 2008 primaries. This would again not endear him to the left. Murphy broadly framed himself as a moderate Democrat who grew into his politics and was also ashamed of the path the Republican Party was heading with the Tea Party movement.

This moderate image helped inoculate Murphy from attack in a district that was moving more to the right as the exurbs grew in influence, fewer Jewish retirees came into the area, and the working-class voters of St. Lucie began to lean to the right. The trend was already clear; the district backed Obama in 2008 but had backed Romney the day Murphy won, and won in a very CLOSE race. Its easy to imagine a less controversial Republican beating Murphy that day. For Murphy, a moderate court was the best option. It worked for him.

In 2014, Murphy easily win re-election, defeating former State Representative Carl Domino by 19 points. That same day, in the Governor’s contest, Charlie Crist narrowly lost the 18th to Rick Scott. The district was viewed as heavily favoring Murphy from early into the year, so much so major Republican figures did not even make a play. Many suspected Murphy had his eyes on statewide office and were more content to wait another term or two.

Murphy’s win indeed put him in the perfect position to make a play for higher office. In March of 2015, he announced he was running for Rubio’s Senate Seat. It was quickly apparent he had the support of prominent Democratic officials, including Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid.

However, even in the coverage of his kick off, the rumbling was that Congressman Alan Grayson may jump into the fray.

Grayson Jumps in and Goes Negative

In the summer of 2015, Congressman Grayson officially announced he was running for the US Senate seat. The move instantly gave heartburn to the Democratic Party. A challenge from Murphy’s left was a problem, but it was compounded by the blunt style of Grayson. National democratic leaders worried that even if Murphy won the primary, he’s emerged bruised and with a left-wing disenchanted from the nominee.

“Murphy’s people should be scared because the problem with Alan Grayson is he just doesn’t give a damn,” longtime fundraiser/operative Screven Watson

Polls from that summer showed Murphy with a 23% to 14% lead over Grayson, with over 60% undecided. The race was very much up in the air.

Grayson’s primary bid against Murphy was non-stop negative. He caught major flack for refusing to commit to backing Murphy in a general election and increasingly went to war with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. After Montana Senator Jon Tester, head of the DSCC, made it known that the committee would likely endorse Murphy, viewing Grayson as unable to win statewide, Grayson allegedly cursed-out Tester, called Murphy “a piece of shit” and warned that when Grayson won, it would be hard for him and Tester to work together. The end result was Tester formally backing Murphy and donating to his campaign.

Internal antics aside, Grayson’s danger in the race was he had many valid points to hit Murphy on. Murphy had gone more moderate than he likely needed to, and hence had many questionable votes. Grayson also tried to trip up Murphy on fundraising, pushing him to accept no outside help in the race; known as the Clean Campaign Pledge. This was easy for Grayson to push thanks to his strong network of individual donors as well as his personal fortune. Grayson knew Murphy was likely to have many outside backers aligned with the national Democratic Party’s desire to retake the US Senate. Grayson also did have a loyal following of lefty activists. While many did recoil at Grayson’s bully tactics, others adored the firebrand.

"Frankly, one reason why Democrats are willing to crawl over hot coals naked to vote for me is because I'm willing to tell the truth," (Grayson in an interview)

But by the winter of 2015, the nastiness in the race was already causing headaches for Democrats; including soft backers of Grayson. In November, at a meeting of the Palm Beach Democratic Party, Grayson said he would NOT back Murphy if he won the primary. Grayson complained about attacks levied again himself, all the whole he said Murphy was a “nothing as a human being.” Grayson would only get nastier as the winter went into spring, getting increasingly personal in attacks. These included…

• Saying - “Maybe Patrick’s rich daddy should buy Patrick Murphy a ticket on the Clue Train… because he doesn’t have a clue”

• Calling Murphy a “do-nothing, know-nothing elevated to Congress at the tender age of 29.”

By December of 2015, Grayson’s campaign manager and other staffers had left. This was largely seen as an issue with Grayson being unwilling to moderate himself or take advice. Prominent left-leaning donor John Morgan, who had been a support of Grayson’s but had a falling out after he backed Murphy, laid the issue out clearly

“I like Alan’s politics. Alan is smart, brilliant. He’s a self-made man and went to Harvard,” ……. “But Alan thinks he’s always the smartest guy in the room and he believes his own instincts and doesn’t listen to other people, and that’s why he had this staff shakeup. I’ve been saying for months that Alan will self-implode because he can’t help himself. And it’s happening now.”

Grayson’s headache for Democrats were not just his attacks on Murphy. There were clear warning signs that as the nominee, he’d be un-electable. His outspoken lefty positions, surely out of step with Florida statewide, were not the only issue, however.

Increasing Ethics Questions

Grayson no doubt stood up for the left-wing during his time in Congress. However, whether they are a liberal firebrand or a moderate centrist, their can be ethical or corruption clouds that swirl around them. Grayson was no different. As self-made millionaire attorney that managed a hedge fund, there were bound to be some questionable decisions.

One issue that blew up in the spring of 2016 was that Grayson had recently divested from a mining company that worked primary in Eritrea. The details are here, but the short version is that Eritrea is regarded as a “pariah state” by Human Rights Watch, with slave labor a common practice. The mining activities, largely in gold mines, means the Grayson fund was essentially profiting off human rights abuses. Grayson insisted he was unaware of the abuses, and perhaps he didn’t. The issue then became “how close are you tracking the ethics of your investments?” Such do-diligence is heavily recommended by Human Rights Watch.

Grayson’s role as a hedge fund manager increased in scrutiny as his Senate campaign continued. The New York Times did a major piece on the subject, which you can read here. And I want to do a direct quote from this peace to highlight a major issue at play and why it mattered.

Interviews and the documents show that Mr. Grayson told potential investors in his hedge fund that they should contribute money to the fund to capitalize on the unrest he observed around the world, and to take particular advantage when there was “blood in the streets.”

Grayson came under an ethics investigation due to potential conflicts; especially related to the fund having branches in the Cayman Islands.

The ethics investigation and reporting detailed issues around Grayson brining on staff to work for both the fund and his Senate campaign. Questions also emerged about House staff being utilized for campaign or fund work.

In response to the ethics committee investigation and the reports, Harry Reid, the Senate Democratic leader and known for his blunt language, said

“Alan Grayson used his status as a congressman to unethically promote his Cayman Islands hedge funds, and he should drop out of the Senate race immediately. His actions aren’t just disgraceful to the Democratic Party, they disgrace the halls of Congress,”

The words from Reid exploded in a May 2016 meeting of the House Progressive Caucus. Reid was invited to speak at the event - then Grayson used question time to confront Reid on his quotes. He asked if Reid knew he he was and when Reid said he did, he began shouting “Say my name, senator. Say my name.” This led to Co-Chair Keith Ellison to chide Grayson for bringing personal matters into a caucus meeting. Grayson apparently angrily held up papers of the Reid quotes and demanded to know why Reid said them. Reid apparently calmly told Grayson

“I want you to lose.”

RIP Harry Reid. You were the king.

The coverage of the meeting did not play well for Grayson, as it saw quotes from progressives clearly upset that their formal meeting had been turned into a personal grudge match. Grayson laid in more Murphy attacks while Murphy clapped back with…

“The Progressive Caucus is a place to fight for progressive values, not fight for Alan Grayson’s narcissistic desire to hear someone say his name,”

The ethics committee would find probable cause that Grayson had violated campaign finance and/or federal law regarding the management of the hedge fund and the use of office staff. Coverage here and the formal report here can better detail items. The investigations would continue through the year, but the reports and Grayson’s feud with Reid would be a net negative politically for the Congressman.

The ethics investigations and coverage were made worse by Grayson’s outbursts around them. When being questioned by Tampa Bay Times editor Adam Smith, Grayson let lose

“This is a whole nother level of bullshit….Are are you some kind of shitting robot? You go around shitting on on people?”

The line “shitting robot” quickly became a common quote to describe Grayson’s contentious relationship with the press. Around this time the notion that Grayson was the “Trump of the left” began to grow. Through to his credit, everyone agreed Grayson was at least crazy smart; compared with The Donald being… well… an idiot.

Personal Life Timebomb

All of these ethics scandals and fights with the party may have been enough to ensure Grayson did not win the primary. However, what really ended any chance was explosive allegations by his ex-wife.

Grayson’s first wife, Lolita, who he married in 1990, sought divorce from him in 2014. In her filing, she accused Grayson of physical assault. Lolita also accused Grayson of financial abandonment, he countered with the funds he did pay for her and their children. The story really picked up coverage in 2014, namely as Grayson then accused Lolita of bigamy; as she was still married to another man when they wed. He then sought to have the entire marriage annulled. A tentative agreement on that was reached between both in the summer of 2015. However, potential challenges from Lolita to the settlement agreement led to Grayson, as he left the courtroom, quipping to a report

“I’ll sum it up for you. Gold diggers gotta dig. That’s all I gotta say,” ….. “We had an agreement. She’s trying to renege.”

That line got a tremendous amount of coverage. In the end, the marriage was indeed finally annulled by a judge due to Lolita still being married at the time she married Grayson.

The strife with Lolita blew up again in July of 2016, and this time was fatal to the already weakening campaign. That month, Lolita provided Politico with a full list of times she had called the police on Grayson for physical abuse. Incidents dated back to 1994 and 1999 in Virginia and continued in Florida. Grayson counter with his own claims of physical assault and that Lolita set fire to a car in the 1990s. Lolita provided photos to the press showing bruising she had from Grayson shoving her, while one video emerged of Lolita striking Alan. However, a follow up on the video showed the Orange State Attorney’s office questioned Alan’s version of events since the video only came out after Lolita made her accusations; and also pointed out the video started mid-fight and it couldn’t be ruled out Alan struck first.

The legal truth is not the reason I discuss any of this, but rather to focus on the political fallout. No matter the facts, this all looked horrible for Grayson. The quotes thrown around in the press, whether from Lolita or Alan, would give any voter enough reason to stay away.

“All you are doing is sleeping around with black and white women. ... You are never going to see the kids again! Get out of here.” (Lolita to Alan)

“Go to hell and die! I’ll make sure you will get nothing, you will be in the gutter.” (Alan to Lolita)

There was no good spin for Alan Grayson on any of this. The fallout was immense.

The Campaign’s Final Month

To say that Grayson’s campaign was fatally damaged by the abuse allegations is an understatement. The reports led to many prominent groups and consultants withdrawing support. Democracy for American, a left-wing org backing Grayson, and Progressive Change Campaign Committee, jointly said…

“Unfortunately, this deeply disappointing revelation means progressives have no great options in the Florida race for Senate.”

In addition, Revolution Messaging, a digital fundraising firm that was behind the Bernie Sanders’ grassroots fundraising effort, dropped Grayson as a client. This came at a time where he was already lagging in fundraising to Murphy.

The story only got worse when Grayson got into a heated, and videotaped, argument with a politico reporter when he was at a politico event. In the exchange, report Edward-Isaac Dovere tried to ask Grayson about his ex-wife’s claims, which led to Grayson nudging (making contact) past Dovere and then accusing the report of assault and threatened to have him arrested,

Grayson would continue to lash out at the Democratic establishment and Murphy, blaming them for everything. As Biden and Obama made the rounds for Muprhy, helping the Congressman raise millions for his bid, far outpacing Grayson, the Orlando Congressman got more bitter. In a quote to New York Magazine in late July, Grayson said he’d never back Murphy.

“He’s a 33-year-old nobody who’s done nothing in his life,” ……… “He’s never had a serious relationship, never married, no children, never had to support himself, never had a real job, and lived off a trust fund on his daddy’s yacht for the first 30 years of his life.” ……. “He’s a zero, an absolute zero.”

Before the personal scandals hit Grayson, he had largely been trailing Murphy by under 10 points, with some polls showing it tied and holding massive undecideds. However, after the scandals, Murphy was pulling into a 20 to 30 point lead. By mid August, weeks before the primary, everyone knew it was over.

The Results

When the results came in, they were little shock to anyone. Patrick Murphy crushed Alan Grayson by over 40 points!

Murphy dominated in the Southeast and Tampa Bay, only losing clearly to Grayson in the Orlando base. The Dixiecrat North Florida rurals have Grayson modest wins as they largely split their tickets. I wrote about the North Florida results here back in 2016 right after the primary. For those of you who’ve read my pieces before, you know how North Florida was, and still is to a lesser degree, filled with conservatives who largely vote GOP in the fall anyway.

What was especially humiliating for Grayson was he barely secured 2nd place at all. Right on his heels was Pam Keith, a first time candidate. Keith, an African-American Navy veteran, was likewise running more to the left of Murphy. However, only able to raise $250,000, she struggled with name-ID throughout the campaign. In the end, however, she outpolled Grayson in many parts of the state; becoming a late getter of disillusioned progressive votes and bosting support from military democrats.

Grayson’s loss was a bitter end. He would never back Murphy in the general. He likely laughed as Murphy went on to lose to Marco Rubio the same day that Donald Trump won the state as well. Murphy suffered at the very end of the campaign cycle when national Democratic groups began to take money out of the expensive Florida markets to try and flip a litany of other seats. This led to Murphy struggling to keep up with the coffers of Rubio and the national GOP operation. With Trump winning Florida, however, it was unlikely to matter.

The Orlando Weekly summed up Grayson’s problem pretty well right here

At its core, Alan Grayson's problem has always been Alan Grayson. It's not his considerable intellect, not his impressive résumé (three degrees from Harvard!), not even his strident, bombastic liberalism, but him: For lack of a better term, he's an asshole. Or, more specifically, he's an abrasive, thin-skinned egomaniac who can't take criticism or let go of a grudge, someone who imagines himself as being on the vanguard of a progressive revolution but who finds himself subsumed in bizarre scandals and abandoned by his own party's leaders – not because they're the Establishment, man, but because they think he's a loudmouthed weirdo.

This really did sum up Grayson.

One More Post

My goal was to make Part 3 my final piece on Grayson. However, this Senate race was such a long saga that I am forced to add a Part 4. Why? Because Grayson didn’t go away. Nope, instead Grayson would make two more major bids for office; running for Congress in 2018 and 2022. In addition, the same time he was losing his Senate bid, his new wife, Dena, was running for the Congressional seat he was vacating. All of this needs to be discussed, as it further eroded any remaining support he had.

All of that will be discussed in my TRUE FINAL NO JOKE conclusion… in Part 4.