Arizona 4th Congressional District Republican Candidate Richard Grayson Attacks Poor Quality of GOP Candidates in Arizona's 4th Congressional District

PHOENIX, Aug. 19 - In a speech on the steps of the State Capitol last evening, Richard Grayson, a state-certified write-in candidate in the Sept. 2 Republican primary for the Fourth Congressional District seat currently held by Democratic Rep. Ed Pastor, decried the poor quality of GOP candidates in the race.

Speaking to random passersby, Grayson told the audience that his on-the-ballot opponent, Don Karg, who was the Republican party's candidate in both 2004 and 2006, is "to put it charitably, an unqualified nutjob."

"Anyone looking at his campaign website, his answers to the Arizona Republic candidate questionnaire, or his ludicrous and rambling MySpace videos will have to conclude that this man is at best unfit for public office and an embarrassment to the Republican party," Grayson said.

Of his own candidacy, Grayson said he was "too liberal to represent the warring Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon wings of the Arizona Republican party."

"The Arizona GOP and the Maricopa County Republican Committee have such contempt for the state's Latino residents that the party refuses to run a credible candidate in the Fourth Congressional District," Grayson said. "They've said over and over again: they do not seem to want Latinos in this party, and many of them apparently don't want Latinos in our state or our country."

"The Republican party's hostility to our hardworking Latino residents also extends to other esteemed groups in our community: Muslims, gay and lesbian Arizonans, and all those who they view as threats to our white-bread-and-mayo state," Grayson told the audience.

"Instead of embracing the wonderful diversity here, they are treating the Republican party as a country club, excluding people whose votes they need to win elections."

Grayson said he had hoped that his tongue-in-cheek campaign, combined with his sincere liberal views supporting immediate withdrawal from Iraq, Medicare for all Americans, new taxes on carbon and gasoline use, comprehensive immigration reform with a fast-track path to citizenship, tightened regulation of corporations and massive increases in federal spending for infrastructure and human capital to fight the current hard economic times - as well as the fact that he's a gay atheist and recent Democrat - would provoke a serious Republican to step forward and run in AZ-04.

"But no one did," he said.

"It's truly sad that those who do favor conservative Republican views don't have a credible candidate to vote for in November in this district," Grayson told voters. "For the third election in a row, the Arizona Republican party has let Don Karg win its nomination to Congress by default."

"Obviously," Grayson concluded, "given the demographics and party registration in Arizona's Fourth Congressional District, any Republican candidate will get pwned by Ed Pastor in November. But for a party which claims to stand up principles it holds dear, the Arizona Republicans are a little low on courage, integrity and responsibility - for a change."

In response to a question, Grayson said he would welcome write-in votes but expected to get "no more than a dozen" on September 2.

"A lot of Republicans don't know how to write," the candidate said.

Arizona Republican Congressional Candidate Richard Grayson Declares, "We Are NOT All Georgians"

PHOENIX, Aug. 17 - Speaking this morning at a matzoh-brei breakfast at the Chabad Lubavitch Center, Arizona Fourth Congressional District Republican candidate Richard Grayson declared that his party's presidential candidate is wrong in saying that "we are all Georgians."

"I am not a Georgian," Grayson said. "I am an American. And only an American. If Senator McCain thinks I'm a Georgian, he's blind to reality."

Continuing, the state-certified write-in candidate in the Sept. 2 primary said, "The only times I've been in the state of Georgia have been spent changing planes at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport or driving on I-95 from Florida to New York. And I've never set foot in the Republic of Georgia, a foreign country, ever."

Grayson stated that this November he would be voting for an American, not a Georgian, for President.

"I haven't voted for a Georgian since 1976," Grayson admitted.

Republican Congressional Candidate Richard Hussein Grayson Endorsed by Tolerance Group

PHOENIX, Aug. 14 - Arizona Fourth Congressional District Republican candidate Richard Grayson today stated he was proud to receive the support of an organization dedicated to tolerance and understanding.

Accepting their endorsement, Grayson told the group, "¡Gracias, mis queridos hermanos! Pienso que ustedes están haciendo una buena acción y que es benéfico para la sociedad."

Grayson, a state-certified write-in candidate, faces Don Karg in the Sept. 2 Republican primary for the congressional seat currently held by Rep. Ed Pastor (D-Phoenix).

Republican Congressional Candidate Richard Grayson Calls Sen. John McCain Immature, "Not Yet Ready to Be President"

PHOENIX, Aug. 9 - Campaigning on Central Avenue this afternoon, Fourth Congressional District Republican candidate Richard Grayson called fellow Arizonan John McCain "not yet ready to be President."

"McCain might have the seasoning necessary to do well in the Oval Office in another four or eight years," Grayson told a voter who asked about his feelings on the presidential contest. "For now, he's shown in this campaign that he's too immature and impetuous."

"I have no doubt that with a few more years of experience," Grayson said, "John McCain will eventually be grown-up enough to lead our nation. But not this year."

Grayson faces Don Karg in the Sept. 2 Republican primary for the Congressional seat currently held by Democrat Ed Pastor.

Arizona Fourth Congressional District Republican Candidate Richard Grayson's Issue Positions Posted at Project Vote Smart

PHOENIX, Aug. 7 - At a campaign dinner at Mrs. White's Golden Rule Cafe on Jefferson Street last night, Republican candidate for Congress Richard Grayson announced that his issue positions had been posted on the website of Project Vote Smart as part of that nonprofit, nonpartisan organization's Political Courage Test.

Over cornbread and peach cobbler, Grayson, a state-certified write-in candidate in the Sept. 2 GOP primary, noted that his on-the-ballot opponent, Don Karg, had not submitted his issue positions on the Political Courage Test to Project Vote Smart and that neither had Fourth Congressional District incumbent Rep. Ed Pastor.

Grayson said that he was glad to provide his positions on the issues to Project Vote Smart and to voters, and he was pleased that Libertarian party candidate Joe Cobb and Green party candidate Rebecca Dewitt had also done so.

Republican Congressional Candidate Richard Grayson Attacks Incumbent Rep. Ed Pastor for Not Supporting Healthy Families Act

PHOENIX, Aug. 6- The Republican Richard Grayson for Congress AZ-04 Committee today issued the following statement, written by Richard Grayson, who is running as a state certified write-in candidate against Don Karg in the Sept. 2 Republican primary for the Fourth District Congressional District seat currently held by Rep. Ed Pastor (D-AZ):

The problem: More than 57 million workers in America are confronted with the harsh reality of losing pay and even risking a job when they get sick or need to care for an ill family member. Working families deserve paid sick days, but currently no state or federal laws guarantee them. I have friends who are forced to give up income when their little kids have the croup or a bad stomach virus or, God forbid, something worse. I don't have kids, but I have a mom with Alzheimer's disease who sometimes needs one of her grown-up kids to take off a day from work without pay to help her out.

The solution: the Healthy Families Act - legislation introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro and Sen. Edward Kennedy - guarantees seven paid sick days a year to full-time employees.

Even though Americans strongly support paid sick days, almost half of private-sector workers are denied paid sick days, and of the lowest quarter of wage earners, 79% have no paid sick days at all. The Healthy Families Act would require employers with 15 or more employees to provide seven paid sick days to care for their own and their families’ medical needs, benefiting 66 million Americans: 46 million would gain access to paid sick days; 19 million would gain paid sick days for leave for doctors’ visits and family care; and 1 million Americans would gain additional paid sick days.

If I were now a member of Congress representing Arizona's Fourth Congressional District, I'd have signed as a co-sponsor of the Healthy Families Act, and I'd certainly be voting for it. If I am elected this November, I will certainly co-sponsor this legislation and vote for it.

America's beleaguered working-class and middle-class families need all the help government can give them.

Why has Rep. Ed Pastor not joined his colleagues to co-sponsor the Healthy Families Act? Doesn't he care about the needs of Arizona's working families and their loved ones?

This bill has been co-sponsored by 103 House members, including Rep. Raul Grijalva [D-AZ], Rep. Rahm Emanuel [D-IL], Rep. Nydia Velázquez [D-NY], Rep. Charles Rangel [D-NY], Rep. Luis Gutiérrez [D-IL], Rep. Dennis Kucinich [D-OH], Rep. Solomon Ortiz [D-TX] and Rep. Barney Frank [D-MA].

But not Rep. Ed Pastor. Why not?

Rep. Pastor should be supporting the Healthy Families Act. Over 57 million workers don’t have a single paid sick day.

Just as every other developed country in the Western world offers universal health care to its citizens, they also provide a mandated number of paid sick days for those times when it's unconscionable to make working moms and dads choose between their jobs and their kids. I don't understand why America doesn't do the same.

And I don't understand why Rep. Ed Pastor doesn't seem to care about providing this help for our families.

Phoenix Republican Congressional Candidate Richard Grayson Vehemently Denies Being "A Rat Climbing Aboard a Sinking Ship"

PHOENIX, Aug. 5, 2008 - Campaigning this morning outside the Gurdwara Sahib Guru Nanak Dwara in the northern part of the Fourth Congressional District where he's running as a candidate in the September 2 Arizona Republican primary, Richard Grayson strongly denied an accusation made about himself, a former Democrat, on a scurrilous blog comment.

"I am not - quote - 'a rat climbing aboard a sinking ship' - unquote," Grayson told his supporters and members of the Phoenix media. "My commitment to the Republican party is as deep as parts of Paris Hilton."

"See," Grayson continued, "just my bringing up Paris Hilton in attacking my opponents is proof that I'm a Republican."

Grayson is a state-certified write-in candidate facing two-time Republican nominee Don Karg in the Sept. 2 primary for the seat currently held by Democratic Congressman Ed Pastor.