(Another Congressman showing it doesn't always take special interest money to win a campaign)
Grayson has another huge fundraising quarter
April 12, 2010|By David Damron, Orlando Sentinel
U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson continues to convert his fiery partisan rhetoric and populist political stands into big campaign dollars.
The often-polarizing Orlando Democrat expects to report raising $803,000 in the first three months of 2010, a haul that will likely eclipse what all his Republican opponents have raised combined and leave him with $1.5 million in cash-on-hand. It's also enough to outpace nearly every other member of Congress for the second quarter in a row.
"Congressman Grayson is proof that you do not need to suck up to lobbyists and Wall Street to be effective," said Julie Tagan, a senior adviser. "He is the epitome of people power."
During the last quarter of 2009, Grayson raised $861,297, a total exceeded among congressional incumbents only by the $890,387 reported by U.S. Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., according to the Federal Election Commission. Berman, a staunch defender of Hollywood interests, is heavily backed by TV, music and movie donors.
But instead of tapping media interests for money, Grayson uses them to promote his brand of progressive pugilism. Grayson made a national splash in a House floor speech last fall, sarcastically blasting Republicans for a health-care reform plan that he said amounts to urging Americans to "die quickly."
He made more waves recently by taking on a Mount Dora doctor who put a sign on his office door urging Obama supporters to "seek urologic care elsewhere."
Grayson is also a brutal critic of Wall Street and the Federal Reserve. A staunch defender of health-care reform, he's filed a so-called "public option" bill that would allow all residents to buy into Medicare.
All this, plus regular appearances on left-leaning TV talk shows, has enabled Grayson to build a nationwide base of small contributors. A March 27 Internet "money bomb" appeal netted roughly $470,000; a similar Nov. 3 event netted about $514,000.
Grayson's camp said the latest totals reflect nearly 25,000 individual givers, who account for 93 percent of his donations. The average gift, he said, is $32, with more than half of his total coming via the Internet.
In addition to what he's raised, Grayson has considerable personal resources. A multi-millionaire attorney, he spent roughly $2.65 million of his own money on his 2008 campaign, records show.
"He could raise a trillion dollars, but it doesn't matter because money is no problem for him," said attorney Todd Long, who lost in a Republican primary to former U.S. Rep. Ric Keller, the man Grayson defeated in 2008. Long expects to report $55,000 in the latest quarter, and have $15,000 or so left on hand.
The FEC requires candidates to report first-quarter fundraising by April 15, and their detailed reports won't be public until later this month. The numbers available now are candidate-reported estimates, which could change, but it seems clear that Grayson's total will comfortably exceed that of all of his GOP challengers.
Winter Park traffic signal company owner Bruce O'Donoghue expects to report raising more than $300,000, his campaign said. A spokesman for another GOP front-runner, state Rep. Kurt Kelly, R-Ocala, did not release a total. Among the pack of lesser-known candidates, totals are more modest. For instance, Lake County stay-at-home mom and Tea Party activist Patricia Sullivan reports raising $19,460.
O'Donoghue said no amount of money can help Grayson, who he said has already defined himself as a lightning-rod figure who's too liberal for his district, which encompasses parts of Lake, Marion, Orange and Osceola counties.
"There isn't enough money Alan Grayson could raise from Code Pink, Michael Moore and Howard Dean that could hide his liberal record," O'Donoghue said in a statement.
David Damron can be reached at ddamron@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5311.
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2010-04-12/news/os-grayson-donation-leader-20100412_1_rep-alan-grayson-congressman-grayson-latest-quarter/2
