Alan Grayson: Should I Endorse Daylin Leach? [Update: Yes]

Alan Grayson
Alan Grayson 

Update: Grayson followed up with supporters to confirm his endorsement of Leach.

State Senator Daylin Leach (D-Montco) is seeking to become a member the House of Representatives and he just may be about to score an endorsement from a man he hopes to call a colleague.

Alan Grayson, an outspoken, liberal firebrand from Florida, sent an email to his supporters asking if he should endorse Leach’s campaign to replace Allyson Schwartz in Pennsylvania’s 13th district.

In the email, Rep. Grayson invoking Harry Truman, stated that his goal is to find “True Blue Democrats” and get them elected.

“I think I’ve found one, by the name of Daylin Leach. He’s a current member of the Pennsylvania Senate, and he’s running for the 13th Congressional District in your fine state. But before I decide to endorse him, I’d like to hear what you have to say about him. So please, send me your thoughts on Daylin. You can reply to this e-mail with your comments, or just go to this web site and submit your comments there.”

Grayson is one of the most partisan members of the Democratic caucus and a favorite of netroots progressives. In fact, his email query had already been posted on the national liberal blog Daily Kos just hours after it was sent.

He and Leach have drawn comparisons in the past, including in this piece by political analyst Stu Rothenberg. But he said Leach has a gentler touch.

“If Leach makes it to Congress, I don’t think that he would run from controversy or be scared to ruffle a few feathers. But I doubt that he would be a bridge-burner like Grayson,” Rothenberg wrote in April.

For example Grayson won the ire of conservatives when, in the midst of the debate over Obamacare, he described the GOP plan for those who get sick was to simply “die quickly.” He won election to Congress in 2008, lost in 2010, and won in a newly drawn district in 2012.

Leach likely would welcome Grayson’s support, which would furnish his liberal credentials for the upcoming Democratic primary as well as tap into national progressive fundraising networks. In his first ad, Leach noted that he had been called a “liberal lion” (by PoliticsPA) and said he was proud of that title. In the legislature he’s embraced touchy social issues that make even his Democratic colleagues nervous.

Leach’s opponents for the Democratic nomination 13th district include former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Margolies, State Rep. Brendan Boyle, and Dr. Valerie Arkoosh.

5 Responses

  1. You can either be a workhorse or a show horse. People like Grayson and jd Hayworth on the other side got their just electoral rewards. If leach looks to Grayson as his role model than he is no better than the woman who saved the Clinton presidency.

  2. Right now, Senator Daylin Leach could opt to be a #hero to your constituents by cosponsoring SB76 but, he so far is ignoring what a debilitating tax is doing to eliminate his homeowner constituents. Among the hardest hit are U. S. military personnel, young families, and seniors .. Learn about how/why HB/SB76 benefits not just one segment of our population or another but, ALL Pennsylvanians http://www.ptcc.us

  3. Look I feel that he should endorse because if the government doesn’t have people to start changing the way things are run and try something new soon the USA is in the toilet, we have been doing the same thing for the last 12 years hoping that the outcome would be different and look what it has gotten us, more debt, more wars that some we don’t even need our noses in, and all the factories that made this country great over seas.

  4. If being endorsed by an arrogant prick like Alan Grayson actually helps you… you might be a Democrat!

Email:
  • Will tonight's U.S. Senate debate affect your decision?


    • No. I've already decided on how to cast my vote. (81%)
    • Yes. Anxious to hear from both candidates (19%)

    Total Voters: 27

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