U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., currently running for his party’s nomination for the U.S. Senate, endorsed U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., for the Democratic presidential nomination on Monday.
“After listening to We, the People, I feel the Bern," Grayson announced. “I hereby endorse Bernie Sanders to be our Democratic nominee for president of the United States. I will vote for him as a super delegate at the Democratic National Convention. And I enthusiastically join, shoulder to shoulder, his political revolution.
“America needs a revolution,” Grayson added. “And only Bernie Sanders, as President of the United States, can make one.
“Bernie Sanders is unbought and unbossed,” Grayson insisted. “So am I. That is an essential element of the political revolution."
Grayson had held an online poll over who he should back as a Democratic super delegate and Sanders garnered more votes.
But the move drew fire from supporters of former U.S. Sec. of State Hillary Clinton, the favorite for the Democratic presidential nod, and backers of U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Fla., who is running against Grayson in the Senate primary.
Ben Pollara, who is raising funds for both Clinton and Murphy, told Politico it was a “lose-lose proposition” for Grayson and pointed towards that congressman’s current ethics problems. Grayson is currently being investigated by the U.S. House Ethics Committee due to his management of an off-shore hedge fund.
“Sanders gets an endorsement from an ethically challenged member whose hedge fund management is antithetical to his campaign's message," Pollara told Politico. “Grayson throws his support behind a candidate who is almost certain to lose the Florida primary by a huge margin. Not a promising foreshadowing for Grayson's own upcoming primary against Patrick Murphy.”
Polls have shown Clinton with a commanding lead over Sanders in Florida, including surveys from Quinnipiac University and Public Policy Polling released last week showing her beating him by more than 20 percent.
Grayson and Murphy face attorney and Navy veteran Pam Keith and life coach Lateresa Jones in the August primary.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
