54 Facts About Alan Grayson

1.

Alan Mark Grayson was born on March 13,1958 and is an American politician who served as the US representative for from 2009 to 2011 and from 2013 to 2017.

2.

In 2016, Grayson decided not to run for reelection to his House seat in order to run for the US Senate.

3.

In 2018, Alan Grayson entered the race for the 9th congressional district.

4.

On March 27,2021, Alan Grayson announced his candidacy for the 2022 US Senate election in Florida to challenge Rubio.

5.

On June 14,2022, Alan 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.

6.

Alan Grayson was born in the Bronx, New York City, New York, to Dorothy Ann and Daniel Franklin Alan Grayson.

7.

Alan Grayson completed all coursework and the comprehensive examination for a Ph.

8.

Alan Grayson worked as a law clerk at the Colorado Supreme Court in 1983, and at the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit from 1984 to 1985, where he worked with two judges who later joined the US Supreme Court: Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia.

9.

On behalf of his clients, Alan Grayson filed suit under the False Claims Act and its qui tam provisions.

10.

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

11.

In 2006, Alan 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.

12.

In late 2007, Alan Grayson announced that he would run again for the 8th district seat, and again faced Stuart in the primary.

13.

Alan 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.

14.

Alan Grayson was endorsed by 8th district resident and former Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder, who characterized Webster as having "13th-century views" on women's issues.

15.

On July 11,2011, Alan Grayson announced in an e-mail to supporters that he planned to run for Congress.

16.

Alan Grayson ran unopposed in the Democratic primary for the newly created 9th District in Central Florida.

17.

Alan Grayson was challenged in the Democratic primary by Nick Ruiz, a professor from the University of Florida.

18.

Alan Grayson was the second Democrat to represent Florida's 8th congressional district since its formation after the 1970 census.

19.

Alan Grayson was a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, of which he was vice-chairman.

20.

Alan Grayson twice joined Republicans to oppose the raising of the federal debt limit.

21.

Alan Grayson's language was widely criticized as inappropriate, and Alan Grayson apologized.

22.

Alan Grayson was a co-sponsor of the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009, which would provide additional provisions to audit the Federal Reserve, including removing several key exemptions.

23.

Alan Grayson made it a priority to increase the amount of federal money returning to his district.

24.

Alan Grayson established a grant notification system that notifies subscribers immediately when a federal grant opportunity in their areas of interest becomes available.

25.

Alan Grayson hired a full-time grants coordinator who focused solely on helping people navigate the federal grants process.

26.

Alan Grayson supported the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and has been outspoken in favor of extending unemployment benefits for Americans who have lost their jobs, arguing that the government had never cut off unemployment insurance when the unemployment rate was higher than eight percent.

27.

Alan Grayson voted for FDA oversight of tobacco products, which would give the FDA power to regulate tobacco.

28.

Alan Grayson has worked to combat federal waste, fraud, and abuse.

29.

Alan Grayson requested information about these legal costs after a June 2009 hearing of the House Financial Services Committee.

30.

Alan Grayson encouraged the public to report companies covered by the bill and set up a method to report offending companies via his Congressional website.

31.

Alan Grayson later voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.

32.

Alan Grayson voted in support of eliminating adjustments of Medicare rates of payment.

33.

Alan Grayson voted against Republican substitutes for the health care amendment and insurance law amendments.

34.

On September 29,2009, in a late-night speech on the House floor, Alan Grayson presented his impression of the Republicans' health care plan, illustrated by signs.

35.

Alan Grayson, who is Jewish, apologized to the Anti-Defamation League for those offended by his generic use of holocaust.

36.

Alan Grayson maintained that Congressional Republicans failed to offer a feasible plan.

37.

Alan Grayson subsequently read stories of the dead submitted through the Names of the Dead site on the House floor.

38.

Alan Grayson is pro-choice and supports increased funding for stem cell research.

39.

Alan Grayson voted in support of the Hate Crimes Expansion Act, which expands the definition of hate crimes and strengthens enforcement of hate crime laws.

40.

Alan Grayson voted for the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

41.

Alan Grayson supported the Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill that allows victims of wage discrimination to sue for punitive damages.

42.

Alan Grayson voted for the House's 2009 American Clean Energy and Security Act.

43.

The bill would provide for a $50 million "Hurricane Research Center" in Central Florida, and Alan Grayson claimed it would immediately generate new jobs.

44.

Alan Grayson noted after the passage of the ACES Act his concern about our dependence on foreign oil, the need to promote green technologies, renewable energy sources, and the job creation from the bill.

45.

Alan Grayson has been an outspoken critic of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

46.

Alan Grayson has tried to combat wasteful spending by government defense contractors by introducing his "Gold Plating" amendment.

47.

Alan Grayson has been an outspoken opponent of plans for the United States to intervene in the Syrian civil war.

48.

Alan Grayson was ranked as the 11th-wealthiest member of Congress in 2010, based on financial disclosure forms with a net worth of $31.41 million, and a pending claim against the now-defunct Derivium Capital for at least $25 million, according to Roll Call.

49.

Alan Grayson disclosed that his attorney fees and costs for the war contractor case had exceeded $4 million.

50.

Alan Grayson was married to a woman he met in the early 1980s at a party in Boulder, Colorado.

51.

The couple separated in March 2014, and Alan Grayson asked a court in Orlando to annul the marriage a year later.

52.

On May 31,2016, Alan Grayson married his third wife, Dr Dena Minning.

53.

In 2016, Minning ran for the US House seat Alan Grayson was vacating to pursue his Senate run.

54.

In December 2019, Alan Grayson released a book titled High Crimes: The Impeachment of Donald Trump.