Fall of the House of Grayson Alan Grayson got crushed in U.S. Senate bid, while new wife, Dena Grayson, lost congressional race in central Florida

Florida Congressman Alan Grayson and his new wife, Dena Grayson, wanted to be the first husband-wife team to serve in the U.S. Senate and House at the same time.

Instead the two became co-losers in Tuesday’s primaries.


Alan Grayson was crushed by his fellow congressman, Patrick Murphy, in the U.S. Senate race. And Dena Grayson — who married Alan Grayson mid-campaign and changed her last name over Memorial Day weekend as she ran for his congressional seat — lost in a three-way race won by state Sen. Darren Soto.

There was a deep irony in the Graysons’ losses.

Alan Grayson ran for Senate with the belief that Democrats needed a true-blue progressive. But in having his wife run for his 9th Congressional District seat, she divided up the progressive vote with Grayson’s former aide and adviser, Susannah Randolph. And that allowed Soto — the type of deal-making Chamber of Commerce-like centrist Democrat that Grayson has denigrated — to waltz in, partly with the strong backing of voters of Puerto Rican heritage in the Orlando-area district.

“The progressive votes split and now you have a Puerto Rican chamber-crat who might be able to hold on to that seat for life,” said Jorge Bonilla, a Republican activist who ran and lost in a crowded GOP primary in 2014 to challenge Grayson.

Like many Democrats, Bonilla enjoyed the destruction of Rep. Grayson, whose acerbic style and explosive temper alienated a broad array of political insiders and, election results indicated, voters themselves.

Grayson once said the GOP alternative to Obamacare was to have people “die quickly;” called a reporter a “shitting robot”; branded a lobbyist a “K Street whore,” likened the tea party to the Ku Klux Klan, accused a Christian conservative opponent of being a member of the Taliban, and got into testy exchanges with Senate leaders. During the Senate campaign, Grayson was rocked by a House ethics investigation into his offshore hedge funds and a POLITICO report concerning allegations from his ex-wife that he physically abused her. He denied the charges.

Though Alan Grayson’s defeat was huge, many expect him to return.

“We have a saying in Puerto Rico: ‘yerba mala nunca muere’ — bad weeds never die,” Bonilla said.

Jackie Lee, a Democratic political consultant, wasn’t as harsh in criticizing Grayson but predicted a comeback as well.

“He’s ornery and he’s determined,” she said. “So I wouldn’t be surprised to see him return. I don’t expect to see Dena Grayson again.”

The Graysons’ marriage had a political hue. According to numerous sources, Alan Grayson repeatedly boasted that he would marry her, give her his name and that she would win as a result. After the two were married, he appeared in commercials with her and at tele-town hall forums.

“If we’re elected, we’ll be the first husband-wife team in the history of the United States to be in the Senate and to be in the House of Representatives,” Alan Grayson said in June during one forum.

Dena Grayson didn’t comment on her political future in a post-election interview with WFTV-9 in Orlando, but expressed contentment with her marriage.

“You know, we’re a great team. He’s my best friend. So, we’re always in this fight together, win or lose. It feels great to know that I’m in love with my best friend,” she told the television station. “We’re hopefully going to go on a honeymoon pretty soon. obviously, we’re disappointed in the results. But the establishment really fought against both of us. Again, $600,000 in a democratic primary race to defeat me by groups that are democratic establishment groups. I think that’s pretty telling.”

Alan Grayson knew he was defeated long before the last ballots were cast Tuesday. He barely advertised, and he didn’t disclose his whereabouts to the press earlier on Election Day. He and Dena Grayson — who largely shied away from the press and tried to win on an ad campaign based heavily on Grayson’s name — said little Tuesday night when it was clear each had lost.

Earlier in the day, Rep. Grayson emailed an appeal to donors to give to his floundering campaign.

“Corrupt party bosses controlling the un-Democratic Party are trying to steal this election,” Grayson wrote. “Don’t let it happen! Contribute to our unbought and unbossed Senate campaign today.”

But rhetoric like that just didn’t play well in Florida, or among the rank-and-file Democratic Party loyalists and consultants like Kevin Cate, who increasingly grew weary of him.

“The night the bombastic bombed,” Cate said.

UPDATED at 11:55 p.m. with comments from Dena Grayson to Orlando televisino station.