The Democratic primary to replace U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is heating up with U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Fla., finally throwing punches back at his chief primary rival. U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., has shown no hesitation in going after Murphy and, on Wednesday afternoon, he doubled down on his attacks against his primary rival.
Grayson noted, last week, Inside Gov ranked Murphy as one of the least effective members of Congress.
"Patrick Murphy is one of the least effective members of Congress, in part because he hasn't passed a single bill out of committee," Grayson said on Wednesday. "Some might assume that Murphy has not gotten anything done because he is just not that interested in the hard work of being a legislator, but I'm also worried that he might not have a firm grasp on the legislative process. If that's the case, I'm happy to help."
Grayson contrasted that with his own record and called on Murphy to study the legislative process, even saying his rival should take in the famous “I'm just a bill on Capitol Hill" cartoon from “Schoolhouse Rock" to help bone up.
"If Patrick still has questions about the legislative process after he has had a chance to study this material, I would be happy to sit down with him to answer any questions he has," Grayson said.
While Murphy has generally not engaged with his fellow Florida Democrat, his team fired back on Thursday morning.
“Today, Congressman Alan Grayson is scheduled to file his personal financial disclosure for the first time as a candidate for U.S. Senate, and report his income and assets from 2014 to the public,” Murphy’s campaign emailed the media on Thursday. “Will these new disclosures answer any of the pressing questions surrounding his murky finances?
“Grayson has been roundly criticized for irresponsibly operating three hedge funds as a member of Congress in violation of congressional ethics rules,” the Murphy campaign added. “Meanwhile, even reading Alan Grayson's past financial disclosure forms isn't easy: he handwrites them and not even WTVT was able to decipher some of his entries.
“As people try to understand Alan Grayson's financial disclosures, here are some key questions,” Murphy’s team continued. “Did Grayson finally disclose his position as hedge fund manager of the Grayson Fund LP as required by congressional ethics rules? In a likely violation of these rules, Grayson has never disclosed that he is the manager of this hedge fund. What are the underlying assets of the Grayson Fund LP? In a likely violation of congressional ethics rules, the investments of this multimillion-dollar hedge fund are not listed on Grayson's previous financial disclosures. How much money will Grayson report having earned from the more than $5 million in the Grayson Fund LP? For years he has mysteriously reported no income whatsoever on this large investment. Bonus Question: Will he ensure his financial disclosure can actually be read by the public, or will he once again fill out the financial disclosure forms in almost unreadable handwriting?”
Polls show the two candidates running close with Grayson being better known than Murphy with Florida Democrats but he also has higher unfavorables. Attorney Pam Keith is also seeking the Democratic nomination to replace Rubio.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
