Republican Richard Hussein Grayson for Congress AZ-04

In AZ-04 Republican Primary, Write-In Candidate Richard Grayson Concedes to Don Karg, Endorses Democratic Incumbent Rep. Ed Pastor

2008-09-02T15:50:00.000-07:00

PHOENIX, Sept. 2, 2008 - Richard Grayson, the state-certified write-in candidate in the Republican primary for Arizona's Fourth Congressional District, tonight conceded defeat to 2002 and 2004 nominee, Don Karg. He then announced his support for Democratic incumbent Congressman Ed Pastor as "the only qualified candidate in the race."

"With the results in from today's Republican primary," Grayson said in a statement, "I would like to congratulate Don Karg for winning his third consecutive nomination in Arizona's Fourth Congressional District. Unfortunately, as The Arizona Republic noted editorially in his 2004 run, Mr. Karg is not a serious candidate for a major political party and is unfit and unqualified to serve in the House of Representatives."

"I heartily endorse incumbent Congressman Ed Pastor, who has done a good job serving his constituents in this district," Grayson continued.

"He is not only the only qualified candidate running in this race; he is a smart, compassionate public servant and a thoughtful, effective lawmaker. I will do anything I can to support his re-election."

"Thanks to the eight people who voted for me in today's primary," Grayson said. "I am gratified and honored by your support and surprised that 0.01% of Republicans can write."

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

2008-08-19T05:10:00.000-07:00

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"

2008-08-17T08:27:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-14T18:26:00.001-07:00

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"

2008-08-09T16:58:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-08T02:33:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-06T11:33:00.000-07:00

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"

2008-08-05T09:37:00.000-07:00

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.

Republican Richard Grayson, AZ-04 Congressional Candidate, Lays Out His Platform on Eve of Early Voting

2008-07-31T02:44:00.000-07:00

PHOENIX, July 30 - On the eve of early voting, Arizona Fourth Congressional District Republican candidate Richard Grayson spoke to voters at the downtown campus of Arizona State University and laid out his platform. In the September 2 GOP primary, Grayson is a state-certified write-in candidate facing Don Karg, who has run against incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Ed Pastor in the past two elections.

"I entered this race because the Arizona Republican party needs to suck less," Grayson told voters, before providing his positions on major issues:

The Economy: Grayson favors fiscal stimulus in the form of massive government spending in both human capital and national infrastructure. Improving education is the crucial factor in making sure the U.S. is competitive in an era of globalism. Stronger regulation must be enacted in order to prevent the kind of bubbles that have jolted the economy in recent months. Short term, extended unemployment benefits, more foreclosure relief and increased spending on food stamps and other government programs will help struggling families through this recession.

The War: Grayson favors immediate withdrawal from Iraq, a war he opposed starting in late 2002, an unnecessary pre-emptive war that has destabilized the Middle East, left Americans less safe from terrorists, and which has caused countless deaths and injuries among both our brave troops and Iraqi civilians - in addition to costing billions that could have been better applied to pressing domestic needs. Grayson favors talks with adversaries like Iran and Syria to prevent future wars and opposes widening the war in Afghanistan.

The Environment: With oil prices starting to recede, Grayson favors an unpopular higher federal tax on gasoline - up to a dollar - to keep Americans focused on conserving energy, changing their car-oriented lifestyles, and research and development on alternative sources of fuel. He opposes offshore drilling and other short-term measures that will do almost nothing and opposes politically-motivated restrictions on speculators. Grayson supports a carbon tax and believes that measures must be taken to lessen global warming. Green technologies can be the new driving force behind an American economic revival and should receive government support.

Health care: Grayson supports Medicare for all, a single-payer system of universal medical care for every American, eliminating the inequities and inefficiencies of a system based on private insurance. American companies must be free to compete with international competitors that don't have the burden of providing health benefits to employees and retirees. This will all be expensive and should be paid for by ending the cap on payroll taxes and on the new energy taxes Grayson proposes.

Grayson also supports comprehensive immigration reform with a path for citizenship for undocumented aliens, a rollback of Bush administration assaults on personal freedom and liberty, mandatory sick days and other assistance to struggling working parents, increased foreign aid, an end to politicization of the judiciary, access to safe reproductive health care and abortions for women, marriage equality, increased aid to veterans, and generally believes the Republican party must return to the pro-growth activist government that Theodore Roosevelt championed a century ago in the progressive era.

In the international arena, Grayson favors ending U.S. imperialist policies and supports more cooperation with other nations, more free trade agreements like NAFTA, the creation of a viable Palestine with guaranteed security for Israel, and increased federal support for nongovernmental organizations that foster sustainable global growth and the welfare of the earth's people, animals, and other species.

"The era of talking about small government is over," Grayson said at the end of his talk. "Struggling American families need a helping hand, and the federal government needs to provide it."

Republican Congressional Candidate Richard Grayson Attacks Current GOP House Members for Abandoning Bush Administration on Foreclosure Prevention Act

2008-07-26T02:31:00.000-07:00

PHOENIX, July 25 - In a speech last evening at a house party on North 9th Street, Richard Grayson, candidate for the Republican nomination in Arizona's Fourth Congressional District in the Sept. 2 primary, attacked the state's four current GOP House members for "abandoning President Bush, Treasury Secretary Paulson, the entire Republican administration and most of all, the struggling homeowners of Arizona" when they voted against the Bush-backed Foreclosure Prevention Act this week.

Grayson said that Reps. Rick Renzi, Trent Franks, Jeff Flake and John Shadegg all "acted like petulant, irresponsible spoiled children who seem clueless as to the severity of the economic threat posed by the potential for a housing collapse."

If he had been in the House, Grayson told the audience, he would have loyally supported the Bush administration -- and American homeowners and business owners: "I will always put the people over politics and personal pique."

Republican Congressional Candidate Richard Grayson Urges Fellow Arizonans to Vote No on Proposition 102

2008-07-24T12:22:00.000-07:00

PHOENIX, July 24 - Speaking this morning in front of the HoodRide Bodega on very cool North 5th Street, Fourth Congressional District Republican candidate Richard Grayson announced his opposition to Proposition 102 and asked his fellow Republican candidates and party officials, as well as all Arizonans, to reject the measure at the polls this November.

"Same-sex marriage is already illegal in Arizona under our statutes," Grayson told his audience. "We're facing a horrible recession; we still have a useless and endless war going on; inflation and foreclosures and problems getting affordable health care are making life tough for Arizonans -- so we have more important issues to address in 2008."

"We've already voted this down in 2006," Grayson said. "This is taking bigotry too far."

Arizona's Fourth Congressional District Republican Candidate Richard Grayson Announces Campaign's Theme Song

2008-07-21T03:29:00.000-07:00

PHOENIX, July 21 - Standing outside David Pham's Bamboo Bakery on West Glendale Avenue in Phoenix this morning, Richard Grayson, Republican candidate for Congress in the Fourth Congressional District, announced his campaign's theme song, the hit "El Corrido del Gringo" by El Gringo (Shawn Kiehne):

Del otro lado del rio
en tierra Norteamericana
naci brindandole honores
a la partida de rayas,
mas siempre fui cautivado
por la gente Mexicana.

En un Rancho haya en El Paso
yo me ganaba la vida,
pero no me imaginaba
lo mucho que cambiaria,
no conocia el acordeon
el bajo sexto y tequila.

Trabajaba con Vaqueros
de Chihuahua y de Durango
y escuchando sus corridos
fui el Español pronunciando.
Son mis mejores amigos
y son indocumentados.

Todos me llaman el Gringo
pues soy Norteamericano.
Pero una cosa les digo
siento que soy su paisano
y hasta la gente me dice
que hablo como Mexicano.

(hablado)
Con todo mi gran respeto
cariño y admiracion
para mis maestros
en el Español ellos son
Los Triges del Norte.

Me gusta la borrachera
ir de parranda en parranda
canto rolitas Norteñas
y una que otra con la Banda.
Que suene fuerte el Conjunto
pa' bailar con las chamacas.

Les soy sincero Señores
no tengo el corazon duro
respeto a los Inmigrantes
y de algo estoy muy seguro
que hay que ser buenos vecinos
y no levantar un muro.

A mis amigos mojados
que viven en el gabacho.
Yo que soy gringo les digo
sigan soñando y luchando
que esta Pais necesita
de su esfuerzo y su trabajo.

(Copyright (C) 2007 Shawn Kiehne. Used without permission.)

English translation of the last stanzas:

I respect immigrants and of this I’m sure
We need to be good neighbors and not build a wall
To my illegal friends who live in the U.S.
As a gringo I want to tell you to keep dreaming and fighting
This country needs your effort and your work.

Following the announcement, Grayson went inside Bamboo Bakery and snarfed down some delicious bear claw cake pudding.

Grayson is running as a state-certified write-in candidate against Don Karg in the Sept. 2 Republican primary for Congress.

(Non-Gringo photos by the great Barry Goldwater)

Phoenix Republican Congressional Candidate Richard Grayson Demands Medicare-for-All Single-Payer Universal Health Care; Endorsed by Rapper DMX

2008-07-20T07:41:00.000-07:00

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., July 20 - Standing outside Scottsdale's Mayo Clinic this morning, Arizona Fourth Congressional District Republican candidate Richard Grayson announced his support of Medicare for every American. Grayson endorsed H.R. 676, the United States National Health Insurance Act, which would provide universal single-payer non-profit health care.

The candidate noted that Rep. Ed Pastor, the Democrat who currently holds the 4th C.D. seat, is one of 90 co-sponsors of that legislation.

"As a Republican," Grayson said, "I wholeheartedly support ending the current farkakteh system of health care in favor of expanding to everyone the Medicare system that has worked so well in protecting America's elderly since 1965."

In a related development, Grayson announced that his campaign had been endorsed by the rapper DMX.

AZ-04 GOP U.S. House Candidate Richard Grayson Denounces "Ugly, Scurrilous Biped Rumors" About Primary Opponent Don Karg

2008-07-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

PHOENIX, July 18 - Speaking on Power 98.3 FM during this morning's Da Nutz program, Arizona Fourth Congressional District Republican candidate Richard Hussein Grayson denounced the "ugly and scurrilous rumors" that his Sept. 2 primary opponent Don Karg is a biped.

"I don't where these disgusting smears started," Grayson told hosts Joeyboy and JPhilla, "but it seems they have legs. So I wanted to step forward and denounce them and deny that my wholesome campaign is the source of these rumors."

Grayson also called for the end of discussions about whether and how often Karg has matriculated. "When he ran in 2006, the Arizona Republic did an investigation of that," Grayson said. "The newspaper found no evidence that Mr. Karg had matriculated, and that should put an end to that unfounded rumor."

Grayson and Karg are running for the Republican nomination for the Fourth Congressional District seat currently held by Democrat Ed Pastor.

AZ-04 GOP Congressional Candidate Richard Grayson Urges Nationalization of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Bernie Mac; Proposes New Bubble to Lift Economy

2008-07-18T02:40:00.000-07:00

PHOENIX, July 18 - Arizona's Fourth Congressional District Republican candidate Richard Grayson, in a morning press conference by the Talking ATM at the Washington Mutual bank branch on Thomas Road and 3rd Street, called for the federal government to immediately nationalize Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Bernie Mac.

"Just propping them up isn't enough," Grayson told reporters, some of whom were trying without success to withdraw funds from WaMu accounts during the press conference. "Our government needs to totally take over these two financial entities headed for wipeouts and a comedian whose jokes are no longer funny to a nation suffering in this horrible recession."

Grayson also urged Congress and the Bush administration to form a commission that will establish a new financial bubble for investors to reinvigorate the sputtering American economy. "The real estate bubble may have popped," Grayson said, "and the dot-com bubble is history, but our nation must reclaim the innovative spirit that has artificially papered over how horrible things actually have been for the past thirty years."

Asked his reaction to the candidate's proposals, the WaMu Talking ATM had no comment.

Grayson, a state-certified write-in candidate, faces Don Karg in the Sept. 2 Republican primary for the Fourth Congressional District seat currently held by Democratic Rep. Ed Pastor.

Republican Congressional Candidate Richard Hussein Grayson Releases His Positions on Immigration Issues

2008-07-15T13:13:00.000-07:00

PHOENIX, July 15 - Arizona Fourth Congressional District Republican candidate Richard Grayson today released his positions on immigration issues at this site of an organization called, rather misleadingly, "Americans for Better Immigration." Every one of Grayson's stands was in opposition to the positions of this nativist group:

Last Updated: July 10, 2008

ARIZONA

If a candidate's column is blank, CLICK HERE for a survey to send him/her

RACE: U.S. Congress, 4th District
Ed Pastor (D)*, Richard Grayson (R)
GENERAL ELECTION DATE: November 4, 2008
Primary: September 2, 2008
*Incumbent

Ed Pastor
Democrat

Congressional Immigration Reduction Grade
F-

Richard Grayson
Republican

Immigration Issue

Oppose Amnesty/Legalization for Illegal Aliens
NO
Fully fund Attrition Through Enforcement
NO
Require Worker Verification
NO
Require Federal Pickup of Locally Detained Illegal Aliens
NO
Cut funds for sanctuary cities
NO
Fund the entry/exit system
NO
Fund & Implement Border Security
NO
End Citizenship for Illegal Aliens' Babies
NO
End Chain Migration
NO
End Visa Lottery
NO
Limit Importation
of Workers
NO
Reduce Overall Immigration Numbers
NO

A state-certified write-in candidate, Grayson faces Don Karg in the Sept. 2 Republican primary.

Republican Richard Grayson for Congress AZ-06 Releases First Campaign Commercial: "Las Batallas en el Desierto" ("Battles in the Desert")

2008-07-14T10:02:00.000-07:00

Arizona Republican Congressional Candidate Richard Grayson Denounces Racist New Yorker Magazine Cover: "Tina Brown Must Be Turning Over in Her Grave!"

2008-07-14T06:54:00.000-07:00

PHOENIX, July 14 - Arizona Fourth Congressional District Republican candidate Richard Grayson today issued a statement denouncing The New Yorker (yes, The New Yorker) for this week's racist cover featuring the Democratic nominee for President. "Tina Brown must be turning over in her grave at this act of bigotry," Grayson declared. "I am glad to see that that Senator McCain and the national Republican party have denounced the magazine's appeal to hatred and division."

Phoenix GOP AZ-04 Congressional Candidate Richard Hussein Grayson Calls For Fed Bailout of Intellectually Bankrupt Arizona Republican Primary

2008-07-14T02:48:00.000-07:00

PHOENIX, July 15 - Bear Stearns. IndyMac Bank. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. All needed federal government bailouts. Is the Arizona Republican party next?

Last evening, during a campaign rally at the aguas frescas bar at the Phoenix Ranch Market, Arizona Fourth Congressional District Republican candidate Richard Hussein Grayson called on the feds to step in and rescue the Arizona Republican party, which he called "intellectually bankrupt and sinking fast."

Grayson, a state-certified write-in candidate in the Sept. 2 primary against fellow Republican Don Karg, told an audience of supporters waiting on line for aguas de jamaica and horchatas that the only things that other Arizona Republicans offer voters struggling with economic woes is "the usual old-time religion: cut taxes, cut government spending, and telling us to cut out whining. Oh, and don't forget blaming all our problems on Muslims, gays and Latinos."

"We are not a nation of winos," Grayson told the crowd, who were sipping their refreshing non-alcoholic cantina-style drinks. "But someone needs to step in pronto and supply the punch-drunk Arizona Republicans with some new 21st-century ideas."

Grayson ended by asking his supporters to call their friends and tell them to re-register as Republicans so they can vote for him in the Sept. 2 GOP primary.

Arizona Fourth Congressional District Write-In Candidate Richard Grayson Not Daunted by Poll Showing Most State Republicans Functionally Illiterate

2008-07-09T18:45:00.000-07:00

PHOENIX, July 10 - Speaking to reporters at Sky Harbor Airport as he was about to board a JetBlue flight to New York for a fundraising dinner, Richard Grayson, a state-certified write-in candidate in the Sept. 2 primary for the GOP nomination in the Fourth Congressional District, professed not to be worried by a new poll showing a majority of Arizona Republicans to be "functionally illiterate."

"I still believe I can get enough voters to write in my name to win," Grayson said, in response to a question from Arizona Republic political reporter Yvonne Wingett about the new poll. "Don't forget that independents can also vote in the Republican primary."

The poll of 350 registered Republican voters, conducted June 29-30 by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Arizona State University and Channel Eight/KAET-TV, revealed that 73% of them admitted to being "functionally illiterate."

Another 12% did not understand what the phrase "functionally illiterate" meant. The survey has a sampling error of plus or minus 5.2 percentage points.

According to Professor Bruce Merrill, who directs the poll, "Unless more Republicans learn how to write between now and Labor Day, Grayson may have a harder time than he thinks to beat Don Karg, whose name is on the ballot and has only seven letters in it."

Arizona Fourth Congressional District Republican Candidate Richard Grayson Asks Phoenix Democrats to Switch Parties for September 2 Primary

2008-07-09T10:06:00.000-07:00

PHOENIX, July 9 - At a 10 a.m. rally in front of the Starbucks on McDowell Road and North 7th Street this morning, Richard Grayson, state-certified write-in candidate in the Republican primary for Arizona's Fourth Congressional District, today asked Phoenix Democrats to temporarily switch parties so that they could vote for him.

The candidate, a radical Republican who has temporarily changed his name to Richard Hussein Grayson, noted that there were so few registered Republicans in the Fourth Congressional District that it was likely that a few Democrats-turned-Republicans could have a significant impact upon the Sept. 2 GOP vote.

"I hope that Democrats all over the district will heed my call and become Republicans this summer," Grayson said.

"You have until August 4 to re-register as a Republican so you can vote for me," Grayson told the three people at the rally, one of whom was his cousin and the other two who were at tables drinking Frappuccinos™. "After the primary, you can go back to being normal."

Arizona Republican Congressional Candidate Richard Hussein Grayson: Is He the Queer Muslim Afro-Punk from El Barrio?

2008-07-06T04:41:00.000-07:00

PHOENIX, July 6 - Republican candidate for Congress in Arizona's Fourth Congressional District Richard Grayson called an early morning press conference today to deny rumors that he was trying to run as "the queer Muslim Afro-punk candidate from El Barrio" -- not that there's anything wrong with that.

"There have been many disgusting rumors and innuendos in the 2008 campaign: for example, sleazy commentators who note that Obama rhymes with Osama. That has no more relevance than the fact that McCain rhymes with no brain," Grayson said.

"Similarly, I deny the fact that I have temporarily changed my name to Richard Hussein Grayson has anything to do with my supposedly running as 'the queer Muslim Afro-punk candidate from El Barrio'," Grayson continued, quickly adding " -- not that there's anything wrong with that, but I'm a nice Jewish boy."

"It's simply that I, like thousands of others on Facebook and throughout America, have temporarily changed my middle name to Hussein to stand up against bigotry and ignorance," the candidate said.

Grayson ended the press conference by announcing that he would soon return to his original middle name. "Within weeks, inshallah," he said, "I'll be back as Richard Milhous Grayson."

Grayson is running as a state-certified write-in candidate against Don Karg in the Sept. 2 Republican primary for the U.S. House seat currently held by Rep. Ed Pastor.

Republican AZ-04 House Candidate Richard Hussein Grayson Generously Posts Links to Sept. 2 Primary Opponent Don Karg's Videos

2008-07-05T09:30:00.000-07:00

Don Karg

PHOENIX, July 5 - Republican candidate for the U.S. House Richard Grayson today announced that in the spirit of fair play, he would post on his campaign blog links to videos by Don Karg, his opponent in the September 2 GOP primary in Arizona's Fourth Congressional District. The videos can be seen via links to MySpace (a place for friends):

Don Karg on education

Don Karg on multiple wars

Don Karg on "imigration" [sic]

Don Karg on medical crisis (pay particular attention to Mr. Karg's denunciation of the "exuberant" costs of medical care)

Don Karg on the economy

Don Karg on mortgage crisis

Arizona Fourth Congressional District Republican Candidate Richard Grayson Issues Statement Honoring the Late Senator Jesse Helms

2008-07-04T13:19:00.000-07:00

PHOENIX, July 4 - Richard Grayson, Republican candidate for the U.S. House in Arizona's Fourth Congressional District, today issued a statement on the passing of former U.S. Senator Jesse Helms, Republican of North Carolina:

We are sorry to hear of the untimely death of Senator Jesse Helms. He was a racist, homophobic, anti-intellectual demagogue who had great appeal for the bigoted and the ignorant. As such, he will be missed greatly by many in Arizona's Republican party.

Arizona Republican Congressional Candidate Richard Grayson Attacks Incumbent Democrat Ed Pastor for Co-Sponsoring Resolution Threatening Iran

2008-07-03T09:19:00.000-07:00

PHOENIX, July 3 - Richard Grayson, Republican candidate for the U.S. House in Arizona's Fourth Congressional District, called a press conference this morning to attack incumbent Democratic Rep. Ed Pastor for supporting a resolution that demands that President Bush “initiate an international effort” to impose a land, sea, and air blockade on Iran to prevent it from importing gasoline and to inspect all cargo entering or leaving Iran.

"Such a blockade imposed without United Nations authority -- which the resolution does not call for -- could be widely construed as an act of war," Grayson told reporters. "This resolution reprises and magnifies the Bush administration’s longstanding sticks-and-saber-rattling- and-no-carrots approach to dealing with Iran -– an approach that is increasingly recognized even by senior U.S. intelligence and military officials as inadequate and unproductive."

"Worse still," Grayson continued, "Rep. Pastor's co-sponsorship of H. Con. Res. 362 risks reinforcing the most reckless tendencies of those in the Bush administration who have not yet given up on the idea of striking Iran militarily before leaving office."

"If a liberal Democrat like Ed Pastor is going to empower the hawkish neoconservatives who are just itching to attack Iran by giving them a blank check to go right ahead," Grayson said, "maybe he needs to be replaced with a common-sense Republican who will resist the march to a third war in the Middle East."

Grayson also quoted Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX):

This is unbelievable! This is closing down Iran. Where do we have this authority? Where do we get the moral authority? Where do we get the international legality for this? Where do we get the Constitutional authority for this? This is what we did for ten years before we went into Iraq. We starved children – 50,000 individuals it was admitted probably died because of the sanctions on the Iraqis. They were incapable at the time of attacking us. And all the propaganda that was given for our need to go into Iraq was not true.

The resolution is opposed by such groups as the Council for a Livable World, United for Peace & Justice, Code Pink and Just Foreign Policy.

Grayson is a state-certified write-in candidate running in the Sept. 2 AZ-04 Republican primary against Don Karg.

AZ-04 GOP House Candidate Richard Grayson Celebrates July 4th: "A Bunch of Slave-Owning, Aristocratic, Rich White Males Didn't Want to Pay Taxes!"

2008-07-01T18:45:00.001-07:00

PHOENIX, July 2 - Richard Grayson, Republican candidate for the U.S. House in Arizona's Fourth Congressional District, tonight released a statement wishing "all Americans in his district, voters and nonvoters, citizens and non-citizens alike, the happiest of Independence Day holidays."

Grayson went on to say that the occasion was particularly resonant for members of the Grand Old Party:

In the immortal words of Dazed and Confused's excellent high school teacher Ms. Ginny Stroud: "OK guys, during the Fourth of July brouhaha, don't forget what you're celebrating — and that's the fact that a bunch of slave-owning, aristocratic, white males didn't want to pay their taxes!"

¡Feliz 4 de julio!

Grayson is running as a state-certified write-in candidate in the September 2 primary against Don Karg.

Arizona Republican Congressional Candidate Richard Grayson Blasts Torture, Calls for End of Forced Watching of Cheney Speeches

2008-06-28T07:32:00.000-07:00

PHOENIX, June 28 - Speaking early this morning to an estrogen-challenged audience of the Valley's movers and shakers at the men's grill room of the Phoenix Country Club, Republican candidate for Congress Richard Grayson decried the use of torture in harsh interrogation techniques of American detainees and called for the abolishment of waterboarding, sexual humiliation, electric shock, extreme sleep deprivation, and "that worst torture of all, forced watching of Dick Cheney speeches."

Grayson, running as a state-certified write-in candidate in the September 2 Fourth Congressional District GOP primary against Don Karg, noted that Thursday was the 21st anniversary of the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and that the Nobel Prize-winning organization Physicians for Human Rights recently released a report, called “Broken Laws, Broken Lives,” detailing abuses of detainees in at facilities in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

"For the sake of decency," Grayson said, "we must end this madness. It shocks the conscience to subject our fellow human beings to listen to Dick Cheney speak for hours on end." Grayson noted that in one instance, a prisoner was also forced to listen to an audiotape of one of Lynne Cheney's books for children. "That is beyond the pale," he said. "I get pale just thinking about it."

The speech, piped in by intercom to those segregated in the Phoenix Country Club's separate-but-equal women's grill room, was received enthusiastically by the crowd.

Following Grayson's talk, the candidate walked up N. 7th Street from Thomas Road to Camelback, where, continuing the campaign's theme of torture, he ordered the Grand Slam breakfast at Gay Denny's.

Arizona Fourth Congressional District Republican U.S. House Candidate Richard Grayson Releases Medical Records

2008-06-27T18:32:00.000-07:00

PHOENIX, June 27, 2008 - Late Friday, Richard Grayson, Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Arizona's Fourth Congressional District primary on September 2, 2008, released his complete medical records to the public.

Our Campaign's First Celebrity Endorsement: Asia Argento Embraces Richard Grayson's Candidacy for Congress in the AZ-04 Republican Primary on Sept. 2

2008-06-27T15:05:00.000-07:00

Typical Phoenix Republican Woman Overcome with Joy over Richard Grayson's Candidacy for Congress in AZ-04 GOP Primary on Sept. 2

2008-06-27T12:26:00.000-07:00

Arizona GOP Congressional Candidate Grayson Asks Americans to Commemorate the Bush Administration by Flushing Toilets at Noon on Inauguration Day 2009

2008-06-25T08:59:00.000-07:00

Richard Grayson, Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Arizona's Fourth Congressional District, today asked all Americans to commemorate the achievements of the Bush administration by flushing their toilets at noon next January 20, when George W. Bush's second presidential term comes to an end.

"This is an appropriate way for our nation to salute the service of President Bush and the accomplishments of his administration," Grayson said in a press conference today in Central Phoenix. "It will help all Americans to release their pent-up feelings about everything our President has done in his eight years in office. I hope to be in Washington as a Republican Congressman to lead the nation in this tribute, but I ask everyone in Arizona to join us in our salute to a great American leader."

Mr. Grayson faces Don Karg in the September 2 AZ-04 GOP primary.

Phoenix Republicans Celebrate Richard Grayson's Qualifying for the Sept. 2 Fourth Congressional District GOP Primary

2008-06-12T08:10:00.000-07:00

Arizona Secretary of State Jan Brewer has announced that Richard Grayson has qualified as a write-in candidate for the September 2 Republican primary in the state's Fourth Congressional District.

Mr. Grayson, previously an Apache Junction Democrat, recently switched his party affiliation to the GOP following an unfortunate charreada accident in which he was kicked in the head by a steer.

His campaign platform includes these three major planks:

1. Endless war;
2. More tax cuts for millionaires; and
3. Deporting everyone with a funny name.

No wonder Phoenix Republicans are celebrating.