Alan Grayson


Alan Mark Grayson is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2009 to 2011 and from 2013 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was defeated for reelection in 2010 by Republican Daniel Webster; he was then reelected in 2012 for a second, non-consecutive term in the U.S. House of Representatives in another district, defeating Republican Todd Long.
In 2016, Grayson decided not to run for reelection to his House seat in order to run for the U.S. Senate. He was defeated 59–18% in the Democratic primary by fellow Representative Patrick Murphy, who went on to lose the general election to incumbent Republican Marco Rubio. In 2018, Grayson entered the race for the 9th congressional district. He was defeated in the Democratic primary by his successor Darren Soto, 66–34%. On March 27, 2021, Grayson announced his candidacy for the 2022 U.S. Senate election in Florida to challenge Rubio. On June 14, 2022, Grayson announced that he would drop his bid for Senate and instead run in the open race for, in which he lost the Democratic primary. In 2024, he unsuccessfully ran for the Florida Senate, finishing third in the primary. Grayson ran in the 2025 Florida Senate special election and is currently running in the 2026 United States Senate special election in Florida.

Early life and education

Grayson was born in the Bronx, New York City, New York, to Dorothy Ann and Daniel Franklin Grayson. He grew up in Adee Towers, a building financed by the Mitchell–Lama Housing Program, and graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1975. Grayson worked his way through Harvard College as a janitor and nightwatchman, and also features reporter for Boston Phoenix. He graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor of Arts degree with a Special Concentration in Urban Studies in 1978. After working two years as an economist, he returned to Harvard for graduate studies. In 1983, he earned a J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School and a M.P.P. from the John F. Kennedy School of Government. He also completed all coursework and the comprehensive examination for a Ph.D. in government.
Grayson wrote his master's thesis on gerontology. In 1986, he helped found the non-profit Alliance for Aging Research in Washington, D.C., and served as an officer of the organization for more than twenty years.
Alan Grayson is Jewish.

Legal career

Grayson worked as a law clerk at the Colorado Supreme Court in 1983, and at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit from 1984 to 1985, where he worked with two judges who later joined the U.S. Supreme Court: Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia. He was an associate in the Washington, D.C., office of the law firm Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson for five years, where he specialized in contract law.
In 1991 he founded the law firm Grayson & Kubli, which concentrated on government contract law. He was a lecturer at the George Washington University government contracts program and a frequent speaker on the topic. In the 2000s, he worked as a plaintiffs' attorney specializing in whistleblower fraud cases aimed at Iraq War contractors. One contractor, Custer Battles, employed individuals who were found guilty of making fraudulent statements and submitting fraudulent invoices on two contracts the company had with the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq. On behalf of his clients, Grayson filed suit under the False Claims Act and its qui tam provisions. The jury verdict was more than $13 million, which was upheld on appeal in April 2009. The Iraq War contractor fraud case brought Grayson his first national attention. In 2006, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal described Grayson as "waging a one-man war against contractor fraud in Iraq" and as a "fierce critic of the war in Iraq" whose car displayed bumper stickers such as "Bush lied, people died."

President of IDT Corp.

Grayson made his fortune as the co-founder and first president of IDT Corporation.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2006

In 2006, Grayson first entered into electoral politics, losing the 2006 Democratic primary for Florida's 8th congressional district to Charlie Stuart, a prominent local businessman and conservative Democrat. Stuart went on to lose the general election to incumbent Republican Ric Keller.

2008

In late 2007, Grayson announced that he would run again for the 8th district seat, and again faced Stuart in the primary. In the August 26, 2008 Democratic primary, Grayson defeated Stuart, 49–28%, with three other candidates splitting the remaining 24%. During the general election campaign, Grayson maintained a consistent lead over Keller, who had only slightly won renomination in the Republican primary over attorney Todd Long. On election day, Grayson defeated Keller, 52–48%.

2010

Grayson was challenged by Republican nominee Daniel Webster, Florida Tea Party backed Peg Dunmire, independent George Metcalfe, and write-in Florida Whig Party candidate Steve Gerritzen.
Grayson ran a September 2010 commercial calling Webster a "draft-dodger", and a later 30-second commercial calling Webster "Taliban Dan" and warning viewers that "Religious fanatics try to take away our freedom, in Afghanistan, in Iran and right here in Central Florida." Grayson's ads were criticized for editing video mid-sentence to make Webster appear to say things he did not. Grayson released a toned-down version without the edited video or Taliban references in early October.
On Glenn Beck's radio show, Sarah Palin agreed with a co-host's remark, "It's okay if the Republicans lose every seat in the Senate and the House except for one. As long as that one is Alan Grayson losing." Conservative Newsweek columnist George Will called Grayson "America's worst politician". Grayson was also heavily targeted in attack ads funded by groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the 60 Plus Association.
Grayson was endorsed by 8th district resident and former Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder, who characterized Webster as having "13th-century views" on women's issues. Former DNC Chair and Vermont governor Howard Dean called Grayson a "healthcare hero". Grayson received more votes for "progressive hero" from Democracy for America than any other candidate in the country.
On election day, Webster defeated Grayson, 56–38%.

2012

On July 11, 2011, Grayson announced in an e-mail to supporters that he planned to run once again for Congress. Grayson ran unopposed in the Democratic primary for the newly created 9th District in Central Florida.
On November 6, 2012, Grayson defeated Todd Long, 63–37%, to return to Congress after a one-term absence. He described his victory as "the biggest comeback in the history of the U.S. House of Representatives." Although he ran in two different districts, Grayson claimed the House historian had told him that the shift from a 56–38% loss in 2010 to a 63–37% victory in 2012 was the biggest comeback in congressional history.

2014

Grayson was challenged in the Democratic primary by Nick Ruiz, a professor from the University of Central Florida. He overcame this challenge comfortably, 74–26%.
The Republican challenger in the general election was Carol Platt, with independent Marko Milakovich also standing. Grayson was returned to Congress with 54% of the vote.

Tenure

2009–2011

Grayson was the second Democrat to represent Florida's 8th congressional district since its formation after the 1970 census. The only other Democrat to represent this district, Bill Gunter, left to run for the United States Senate in 1974 after only one term.
Grayson is considered a progressive Democrat. He supported Barack Obama in 2008. He was a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, of which he was vice-chairman. Grayson twice joined Republicans to oppose the raising of the federal debt limit. He said, "We need to live within our means. We need to eliminate wasteful spending. If we did those two simple things, we would not need to raise the debt limit."
On September 14, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed Grayson's Teach the Constitution Week resolution, H.RES 686, urging high schools to spend one week each September teaching the United States Constitution to high school seniors and encouraging students to petition the government on an issue of personal importance to them to demonstrate their understanding of their rights and responsibilities as citizens of the United States. The non-partisan resolution was passed by a voice vote and featured 222 co-sponsors.
On the 40th anniversary of the historic 1969 Apollo 11 Moon landing, the U.S. House of Representatives passed Grayson's New Frontier Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2009. The bill asked the president to present Congress's highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal, to Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin Jr., and Michael Collins, as well as John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth. Only about 200 medals have ever been awarded in the country's history. The New Frontier Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2009 passed the House unanimously on July 20, 2009.
;Select legislation sponsored
Known in his first term for making incendiary comments about Republicans, Grayson began to tone down his rhetoric and focused on working with Republicans to pass amendments that "appeal to the libertarian streak in the GOP". He lobbied colleagues personally and in July 2013, David Weigel of Slate magazine called him "the most effective member of the House" and said that he was approaching "an unheralded title: The congressman who's passed more amendments than any of his 434 peers."
In October 2013, his campaign sent out a fundraising email that compared the Tea Party to the Ku Klux Klan. It used the image of a burning cross as the "T" in Tea Party. Matt Gorman of the National Republican Congressional Committee described the e-mail as "hateful words and imagery". Grayson said he saw "overwhelming evidence that the Tea Party is the home of bigotry and discrimination in America today, just as the KKK was for an earlier generation."