With Sen. Marco Rubio leaving the U.S. Senate to run for president in 2016, the race to fill the once-considered safe Republican seat is beginning to take shape in Florida.
The Democratic Party has anointed Rep. Patrick Murphy as their choice to replace Rubio, while the Republicans are still waiting to see who else besides Rep. Ron DeSantis will announce a run for the Republican Senate primary race.
Lt. Governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera will most certainly run for his friend Rubio’s seat, and an official announcement could come as early as July. Rep. Jeff Miller from Florida’s panhandle is also expected to make his senatorial campaign announcement in the coming weeks.
But while all of these candidates I mentioned are viable in their own right, the political world awaits a decision from fire-breathing liberal Congressman Alan Grayson as to whether or not he will run for the U.S. Senate in 2016.
Can you imaging a Grayson senatorial run?
Grayson is also expected to make his senatorial campaign announcement over the summer, a move that many in the press welcome. Grayson is an unapologetic walking viral video waiting to happen and would spare no expense to step on his Democratic primary opponents, let alone any Republican opponent in the general election, if he wins his primary race.
With his propensity to insult more than half of the voting electorate in any federal race, is there any question about why the Democrat establishment has asked Grayson to step away from the senate race and went on to endorsed Murphy over him.
Think of all the KKK, “Die Quickly,” “K Street Whore” moments we in the press would have to look forward to.
Grayson recently tweeted, “A golden opportunity to elect a progressive. Could be,” about a St. Leo poll where 525 adult Floridians were surveyed about who they would support in the open 2016 senate race.
Is Grayson right? Are Floridians primed to possibly vote a liberal Democrat into the U.S. Senate?
When asked if they would probably vote for the Republican or Democrat in the 2016 senate race, Floridians voted 42-39 percent in favor of the Democrat with 14 percent undecided.
But while Floridians would support a Democrat this early in the race, how would they vote in a head-to-head primary race between Grayson and Murphy?
Here are the St.Leo poll results for a matchup between Murphy and Grayson:
Among likely Democratic voters, U.S. Congressman Patrick Murphy has a statistically meaningless lead over fellow U.S. Congressman Alan Grayson, 27 to 24 percent, but both candidates trail respondents who don’t know or are not sure at 39 percent:
Which of the following potential candidates would you support for the Democratic nomination if they ran for United States Senate in 2016?
27 % Congressman Patrick Murphy 24 % Congressman Alan Grayson 10 % Some other candidate 39 % Don’t know / not sure
As for the Republicans, their senate primary race is a crap shoot. The field of both potential and announced candidates is essentially a list of unknowns, as 43 percent of Floridians polls are “not sure” of who they would support in the Republican primary race.
The Republican primary is not much clearer, with former state Attorney General Bill McCollum leading a crowded field of potential candidates with just 16 percent of the vote; 43 percent say they are undecided.
Which of the following potential candidates would you support for the Republican nomination for United States Senate in 2016?
16 % Former Attorney General Bill McCollum 8 % U.S. Congressman Jeff Miller 7 % Lieutenant Governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera 6 % U.S. Congressman Ron DeSantis 6 % U.S. Congressman David Jolly 4 % State Senator Don Gaetz 3 % Former U.S. Senator George LeMieux 43 % Don’t know / not sure
So, does Alan Grayson have a point? Could this be “a golden opportunity” to elect a liberal “Congressman with Guts” to the U.S. Senate in 2016?
Maybe.
All I can say is hurry up and “Run, Alan, Run!” You are the walking political sound bite that every reporter wants to follow.