Almost a year until the Florida primaries and a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate has come out swinging at one of the leading Republican hopefuls.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson ripped into Republican U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis this week as each continues to run hard to replace U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio.
“I was shocked, shocked to find that the Tea Party Express has endorsed my Republican opponent in the U.S. Senate race, Rep. Ron DeSantis,” Grayson emailed supporters on Tuesday. “Since joining Congress, DeSantis (R-Misanthrope) has: fought to ‘defund’ Planned Parenthood and deprive millions of women of cancer screening, AIDS treatment and lifesaving care. Fought to cut the food stamp program for low-income Americans. Voted for an amendment to prevent climate change initiatives. That’s right -- DeSantis is against women, low-income Americans and the planet. No wonder the tea party loves him! Also, DeSantis has a zero percent rating from the Alliance for Retired Americans, which has awarded me a 100 percent rating for my votes for seniors. DeSantis hates the elderly, too!
“And just who is this Tea Party Express, you may be wondering? Some Florida grassroots organization? Nope. It’s a California-based group that receives funding from the billionaire Koch brothers,” Grayson added. “In the past, I’ve been attacked for pointing out exactly who these tea partiers really are: the ugly, racist fringe of American politics. My critics say I’m being unfair. But you don’t have to take my word for it. In 2010, Tea Party Express chairman Mark Williams wrote a letter in praise of slavery, writing from the perspective of ‘Colored People’ to Abraham Lincoln. ‘We Coloreds have taken a vote and decided that we don’t cotton to that whole emancipation thing,’ Williams wrote. ‘Freedom means having to work for real, think for ourselves, and take consequences along with the reward. That is just far too much to ask of us Colored People and we demand that it stop!’
“And Ron DeSantis wants their endorsement? He’s welcome to it! I won’t take a dime from the tea partiers or their billionaire puppet masters,” Grayson closed.
Taylor Budowich, the executive director of the Tea Party Express, fired back at Grayson in an email to Sunshine State News on Tuesday afternoon.
“It looks like Alan Grayson is off the reservation again,” Budowich wrote. “I know Grayson's campaign is used to ignoring facts, but Tea Party Express is a political action committee. Our average contribution is $41 and the max we can receive by federal law is $5,000. So what Koch money is this guy talking about?
“But putting that aside, his strategy of demonizing tea party voters, smearing conservatives, and idolizing the Koch brothers is such a tired, played-out approach,” Budowich added. “Who's running this guy's campaign? Didn't they learn from the shellacking of 2014?
“Grayson is the epitome of everything that’s wrong with the Democratic Party,” Budowich insisted. “He is anti-women, having been caught calling a female he didn’t like a ‘whore.’ He is dishonest, running one of the most disgustingly deceitful political attack ads of recent memory. And he hypocritically preaches tolerance, unless you have an opinion different than his, in that case he compares you to murderous organizations like the Klu-Klux-Klan. Alan Grayson has proven throughout his career that he only has tolerance for people that agree with his offensive, extremist views -- eliminating nearly the entire electorate.
“But bless his heart,” Budowich wrote in closing. “Without Alan Grayson in this race, Republicans might actually be faced with a competitive election to replace Senator Marco Rubio.”
Grayson is running against U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Fla., and attorney Pam Keith in the Democratic primary. DeSantis faces U.S. Rep. David Jolly, R-Fla., Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera and businessman Todd Wilcox in the Republican primary.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
