Richard Grayson

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

My first foray in politics was as a 13yo handing out "Get On The Johnson, Humphrey, Kennedy Team leaflets on NYC streetcorners in 1964. As a teenager and young man, I worked for numerous candidates, mostly Democrats like George McGovern (I was at the 1972 Democratic convention in Miami Beach), but also some liberal Republicans (NYC Mayor John Lindsay). I was active in the peace movement and in 1970 attended the first Earth Day demonstration and the Women's March commemorating the 50th anniversary of female suffrage. A longtime supporter of abortion and LGBT rights, I was on the Board of Directors of the Human Rights Council of North Central Florida and worked on the 1994 campaign to defeat an anti- gay referendum in Alachua County. (We lost bigly, but the courts later overturned the laws.) When no Democrat was on the ballot against Florida Republican Reps. Bilirakis, Ros-Lehniten and Crenshaw in Florida in 1994, 1996 and 2004, I ran write-in campaigns against them, as I did against otherwise-unopposed Rep. Gosar in AZ-09 in 2022 and against Republican Arizona State Senator Townsend in 2020. In 2014, no one would run for Wyoming's congressional seat against then-Rep. Lummis, so I volunteered, and without spending any money I won in Teton County while the Democratic candidates for governor and US senator lost. In every presidential election since 1980, when I supported my Nova Southeastern University Law School colleague John Anderson, I voted Democratic.

Restore our pre-2025 constitutional democracy, re-empower the legislative branch, and follow the rule of law as it existed before the present autocracy and dictatorship..
Kill billionaires. By this I mean not literal murder, but taxation to get their wealth to a maximum of $999,999. I mean, everyone would like to kill some billionaires, especially those who think they are the boss of the rest of us and can terrorize U.S. government workers the way they do their own private business employees, but violence is beyond the pale.
Support democracy and the rule of law not only at home but abroad. Restore agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the U.S. Agency for International Development and others that do much more good than harm. Stop harassing and demonizing our allies, immigrants, LGBTQ+ people, our institutions of higher education, and those who protest against Donald Trump's fascist regime in the name of common decency..

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am passionate about the health of the world economy and how Donald Trump is wrecking it. As someone who started teaching college classes 50 years ago as an instructor of English at Long Island University and who has worked for half a century at community colleges and private and public, religious and secular, large and small universities and 4-year colleges in Arizona and five other states, as well as one Phoenix high school (Jess Schwartz) and some upstate New York elementary schools and worked as a teacher-trainer in the Miami-Dade County School District, I am passionate about educational policy at all levels. As a former staff attorney at the Center for Governmental Responsibility, I am passionate about public service. and our rights

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I look up to anyone taller than 64 inches. I'd like to still be able to follow the examples in my 11th grade trigonometry textbook.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

This probably sounds egotistical, but if you want to know about my political philosophy in particular, you can read my own book of two decades ago, "Write-in: Diary of a Congressional Candidate in Florida's Fourth Congressional District," published serially at mcsweeneys.net and then in book form.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Above all, common human decency and belief in the dignity of all, fairness and the rule of law -- qualities completely lacking in Elon Musk and Donald Trump.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

That is for others to judge.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

If you want to run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, you should above all understand that the elective body, along with the U.S. Senate, must stop giving away all its power to the President under the ahistorical and regressive and un-American theory of "the unitary executive." There's a reason Article I of our Constitution -- which may or may not still be in effect (check tomorrow's news) -- is about the legislative branch. The House of Representatives' greatest power is the power of the purse: to raise and spend money for the benefit of all the people of this country, not to be a rubber stamp for a fascist dictator who think he can do it all. Stop being afraid of not getting re-elected, politicians! Your career means nothing; the direction of our country and the survival of the U.S.A. as a nation means everything..

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

No debt.

I was 14, and in the summer I worked alongside my grandfather, who was a tailor in a small men's pants store called The Slack Bar, owned by my uncle and his father-in-law, on Fulton Street in downtown Brooklyn. Our customers were largely Black and Puerto Rican men, and our assistant manager was Black and our other tailor (free alterations!) was Puerto Rican. I sat at an ancient cash register and rang up their orders and took cash and returned change. I wrote a story about that job called "The Boy Who Could Draw Dr. King." https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9436216-the-boy-who-could-draw-dr-kinghttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9436216-the-boy-who-could-draw-dr-king

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

The favorite book I wrote is probably my first hardcover book, With Hitler in New York and Other Stories, from 1979. Favorite books include Mrs. Dalloway, Great Expectations, One Hundred Years of Solitude, The Crying of Lot 49, Slaughterhouse-Five, Another Country, Dubliners, How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, Tropic of Cancer, Fear of Flying, The Forsyte Saga, Confessions of a Mask, Invvisible Man, Portnoy's Complaint, The Collected Stori,es of John Cheever, Couples, Franny and Zooey, The Great Gatsby, The Sound and the Fury, The Sun Also Rises, Ficciones, The Red and the Black, Anna Karenina, Notes From Underground, Women in Love, Point Counter Point, Wuthering Heights, A Doll's House, A Raisin in the Sun, Death of a Salesman, A Streetcar Named Desire, Dutchman, Their Eyes Were Watching God, 1876, Kaddish, The Razor's Edge, Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, The White Album, Man's Search for Meaning, Death in Venice, Twelfth Night, The Henriad, Macbeth, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Julius Caesar, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Misanthrope, The Bell Jar, Let the Great World Spin, The Power Broker, Hiroshima, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, The Communist Manifesto, The Wealth of Nations, Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson, On Civil Disobedience, Notes of a Native Son, The Bald Soprano, No Exit, Of Human Bondage, The Quiet American, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, Herzog, Mondo Barbie, Lightning Struck My Dick, Heart of Darkness, Troublemaker, The Canterbury Tales, The Old Testament, The New Testament, Democracy in America, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Mouse That Roared, Persepolis, Parable of the Sower, Crime in America, Soledad Brother, Angels in America, American Mischief, Advertisements for Myself, The Golden Bowl, The Handmaid's Tale, The House on Mango Street, Letters to a Young Poet, Getting to Yes, A Civil Action, The Soul of a New Machine, Gideon's Trumpet, My Brilliant Friend.

Richard Grayson

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

The theme from the 1966 TV show "The Pruitts of Southampton," which starred Phyllis Diller as the head of a wealthy Long Island family that has gone broke but must keep up appearances for the sake of the country, which presumably would sink into economic depression should news of the Pruitts' poverty become public knowledge. The song was sung by Phyllis Diller, who played the head of the family, which owed millions in unpaid taxes, and Reginald Gardner, who played Uncle Ned.

PD: Howcha do howcha do, howcha do my dear
What a LOVELY surprise, nice to see you here.

RG: All the bills have been long overdue, my dear.

PD: File them under I.O.U...

Howcha do, howcha do, Well HELLO, it's you!
Like my beads, like my dress?
Aren't they marvy-poo?
They belong to the internal revenue.
And they got us eating stew.

CHORUS: The Pruitts of Southampton,
Live like the richest folk,
But what the folk don't know is that
The Pruitts are flat broke!

PD: Howcha do, howcha do, howcha do, my dear

RG: We are out of champagne, and I'm stuck, my dear.

PD: Ask the butler to lend you a buck, my dear.
Howcha do, howcha do, howcha do...

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Wrestling

What qualities does the U.S. House of Representatives possess that makes it unique as an institution?

Tax and spending bills must originate in the House.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for representatives to have previous experience in government or politics?

Generally, yes.

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

Survival -- scarily, mere survival. Will we still be a functioning constitutional democracy in a year or two? I don't know. This is the worst time of my 74-year-old life in terms of being a citizen of the United States of America. Can we avoid fascism and becoming a permanent authoritarian, lawless nation ruled by one man and a bunch of oligarchs?

Do you believe that two years is the right term length for representatives?

Yes and no. They are always raising money for the next election, taking away from their work for the people. But midterm elections are a good check on presidential power.

What are your thoughts on term limits?

The President is subject to the term limits of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution. End of story.

Is there a particular representative, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

John Quincy Adams, who served in the House following his presidency.

Both sitting representatives and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

Sorry, no, but I haven't campaigned yet.

Tell us your favorite joke.

It's The Aristocrats and I can't repeat it here.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Yes.

The Constitution says that all bills for raising revenue must originate in the House. What role would this power play in your priorities if elected?

That is everything to me. Why is the House under Mike Johnson surrendering this power so meekly to President Trump? Shameful! Be a man, Mike, if you know what that is.

How should the U.S. House use its investigative powers?

Wisely, and not to score political points. Do not harass witnesses. Do not make speeches when you are allegedly asking questions. Do your homework ahead of committee hearings. Be open to all sides and above all do not try to hide the truth from the American people.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

None, although in the past I've been endorsed by Tucson Weekly, the Florida Dollar Stretcher, and the PACs of the United Auto Workers, National Organization for Women, and United Mine Workers of America.

What committees interest you?

Any and all.

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

The opposite of Elon Musk's, whose views at DOGE seem to be opaqueness and a complete lack of accountability to the people, to the Constitution, and to God, whom he mistakes himself for. In the 1990s I was a staff attorney in social policy at a research institution called the Center for Governmental Responsibility at the University of Florida College of Law. We worked on various issues from the environment to then-emergent democracies in eastern Europe and elsewhere to historic preservation and poverty law, and CGR was part of a groundbreaking lawsuit when a President tried to impound funds already approved into law by Congress, much as Dictator Trump is trying to do now. He may get away with it, given the corrupt nature of some of the U..S. Supreme Court's justices. Hopefully we can save American democracy, but it will be the biggest fight of our country's life since the Civil War.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2024

U.S. House Alaska

Richard Grayson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Grayson's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

I am the only person in the U.S. running as a candidate of the No Labels Party

Death to fascism
We control our own sexual and reproductive lives
Cheaper housing, cheaper health care, cheaper higher education

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Every single freaking one.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I look up to people who are taller than I am. I follow no man or woman, though sometimes I follow a dog when I am walking said dog.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Intelligence, kindness and truthfulness

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I dunno

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Legislating

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

I'll be dead, so I won't be aware of it; therefore, I don't give a shit.

The 1956 presidential election when I was 5.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I worked in my uncle's men's clothing store, on Fulton Street in downtown Brooklyn, when I was 14 and 15 in the summers of 1965 and 1966.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Of my own books, With Hitler in New York because it was my first hardcover story collection published when I was 27. Of others' books, Mrs. Dalloway or Candide or One Hundred Years of Solitude or A Good Man Is Hard to Find or Madame Bovary or Anna Karenina or Notes From Underground or Dubliners or The Crying of Lot 49 or The Sun Also Rises or Twelfth Night or Invisible Man or Portnoy's Complaint or Fear of Flying or The Forsyte Saga or The Professor's House or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn or The Great Gatsty several dozen other books that I have loved teaching as a high school and college teacher since 1975.

The narrator of "The Silicon Valley Diet"

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

"The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" after listening to a WNYC "On the Media" segment about it.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Can't think of anything at the moment

What qualities does the U.S. House of Representatives possess that makes it unique as an institution?

It's got more moronic loudmouth publicity-seekers than any other institution except perhaps a few mental institutions.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for representatives to have previous experience in government or politics?

Uh-huh.

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

Fighting fascism, authoritarianism and totalitarianism; preserving whatever democracy we still have.

Do you believe that two years is the right term length for representatives?

No.

What are your thoughts on term limits?

Confidentially, they stink.

Is there a particular representative, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

John Quincy Adams

Both sitting representatives and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

No

Tell us your favorite joke.

The Aristocrats

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Yep.

The Constitution says that all bills for raising revenue must originate in the House. What role would this power play in your priorities if elected?

A big one

How should the U.S. House use its investigative powers?

Carefully and judiciously

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

None that I'm aware of

What committees interest you?

The Committee for Immediate Nuclear, which I've been chairman of for over 40 years.

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

Favorable

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

U.S. Senate Arizona

Richard Grayson did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

U.S. House North Dakota

Richard Grayson did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

U.S. House Idaho

Richard Grayson did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

U.S. House Arizona District 9

Richard Grayson did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

U.S. House Arizona District 8

Richard Grayson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Grayson's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

I was born in Brooklyn in 1951. I have a B.A. and an M.F.A. from Brooklyn College, an M.A. in English from the College of Staten Island, and a J.D. with high honors from the University of Florida College of Law. The author of eight books of fiction and articles in The New York Times, New York Post, New York Newsday, People and other periodicals, I have taught at universities and colleges in New York, Florida, Arizona, New Jersey, South Carolina and California. I was a staff attorney in social policy at the Center for Governmental Responsibility in Gainesville and served on the board of directors of the Human Rights Council of North Central Florida. My first campaign work was standing on street corners in New York City in the fall of 1964 handing out leaflets that said, “Get on the Johnson, Humphrey, Kennedy Team.” I worked for other Democratic and liberal Republican (John Lindsay, Lowell Weicker) candidates and as McGovern supporter, I attended the 1972 Democratic convention in Miami Beach. Three Florida Republican Secretaries of State appointed me to panels of the state Department of Cultural Affairs. I was the Democratic candidate in Wyoming’s At-Large Congressional District in 2014.

I support the Women's Health Protection Act prohibiting governmental restrictions on the provision of, and access to, abortion services.
I support the Equality Act prohibiting discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
I support the Medicare for All Act establishing a national health insurance program and prohibiting deductibles, coinsurance, and copayments) and other charges for covered services.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

The rights of workers to organize and join labor unions. Abortion rights. LGBTQIA rights. Medicare for all. Forgiving all student loans. Expanding the Supreme Court to 13 justices and limiting terms to 18 years. Expanding the number of members of the U.S. House of Representatives to more than double the current number. Ending the Senate filibuster. Amending the Electoral Count Act so that the undemocratic schemes to nullify presidential elections are prohibited. Supporting the prinicipals of the Library Bill of Rights. Increasing government funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts. Supporting federal action to prevent future pandemics.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I look up to everyone taller than 5'5". I would like to follow the example of my older relatives, including my father, who is 96, and my great-grandfather Isidore, who , like me, was an atheist, a socialist and a vegetarian.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

Film: "Wild in the Streets" (1968) by Barry Shear
Book: "A Good Man is Hard to Find" (1955) by Flannery O'Connor

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Self-reflection, a sense of humor, openness to new experiences and other points of view.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

That's for others to judge.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

To protect democracy.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

No debts.

I remember coming home from kindergarten a little after noon (it was just down the block) and watching President Eisenhower's second inauguration. I was 5.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

When I was 14, I worked for my uncle in his store, The Slack Bar, a men's pants store, on Fulton Street in downtown Brooklyn. I worked there summers for several years and learned a lot from our customers and my co-workers, who were overwhelmingly Black and Puerto Rican men.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

"With Hitler in New York and Other Stories." It is the first book from a commercial New York publisher that had out, when I was 27 in 1979.

Richard Grayson

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

"Hands Down" (Dashboard confessional)

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Nothing, really. I am privileged.

What qualities does the U.S. House of Representatives possess that makes it unique as an institution?

It's probably got some of the wackiest nutjobs of any national legislature in the entire world or perhaps the entire Milky Way Galaxy.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for representatives to have previous experience in government or politics?

Probably.

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

Avoiding become a fascist dicatatorship under white Christian nationalists and avoiding a civil war.

If you are not a current representative, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?

I can serve on any committee with diligence and interest of the voters in mind.

Do you believe that two years is the right term length for representatives?

No.

What are your thoughts on term limits?

I don't believe in them for elected officials. I believe in them for U.S. Supreme Court justices.

Is there a particular representative, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

John Quincy Adams.

Both sitting representatives and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

No.

Tell us your favorite joke.

Any joke with the punch line "What, and give up show business?"

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Yes.

The Constitution says that all bills for raising revenue must originate in the House. What role would this power play in your priorities if elected?

¿Quién sabe?

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

U.S. House Oklahoma District 4

Richard Grayson did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Richard Grayson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Grayson's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

I am a sick man.... I am a spiteful man. I am an unattractive man. I believe my liver is diseased. However, I know nothing at all about my disease, and do not know for certain what ails me. I don't consult a doctor for it, and never have, though I have a respect for medicine and doctors. Besides, I am extremely superstitious, sufficiently so to respect medicine, anyway (I am well-educated enough not to be superstitious, but I am superstitious). No, I refuse to consult a doctor from spite. That you probably will not understand. Well, I understand it, though.

Don't give up. Normally it is the last key on the ring which opens the door.
Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.
One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Passion.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Everyone taller than 5'4".

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

Wild in the Streets (film)

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Some.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

That's for me to know and you to find out.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Core.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

Debts. Whoever dies owing the most money wins.

I remember Eisenhower's second inauguration when I came home from kindergarten at noon on January 20, 1957. (The school, P.S. 244, was just up the block where I lived on East 54th Street and Tilden Avenue in East Flatbush.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I worked for my uncle in his pants store, The Slack Bar, on Fulton Street, in downtown Brooklyn, July-August 1966.