Bernie Sanders gets first endorsement from Jewish lawmaker
Florida Representative Alan Grayson becomes fifth congressman to throw support behind trailing Democratic candidate
Congressman Alan Grayson, a Florida Democrat, has endorsed Bernie Sanders’s presidential bid, making him the first Jewish member of Congress to do so.
Grayson, who is running his own anti-establishment bid for the Democratic nomination for senator in Florida, is the fifth Democrat to endorse Sanders.
“I hereby endorse Bernie Sanders to be our Democratic nominee for President of the United States. I will vote for him as a Super-delegate at the Democratic National Convention. And I enthusiastically join, shoulder to shoulder, his political revolution,” Grayson said in a statement published on his website last week.
“Bernie Sanders and I share a goal of building a grassroots movement of people who want to take back our country from the billionaires and the multinational corporations. We want to make elections into something different: Not the lesser of two evils, but the greater good,” he added.
Grayson also tweeted a series of messages accompanied with the Hashtag #FeelTheBurn declaring his support for Sanders, including a photo of the two together.
I hereby endorse @BernieSanders to be our Democratic nominee for President of the United States. #FeelTheBern https://t.co/mIzcqnAMB9
— Alan Grayson (@AlanGrayson) February 29, 2016
.@BernieSanders and I want to make elections into something different: Not the lesser of two evils, but the greater good. #FeelTheBern
— Alan Grayson (@AlanGrayson) February 29, 2016
America needs a revolution. And only @BernieSanders, as President of the United States, can make one. #SuperMonday
— Alan Grayson (@AlanGrayson) February 29, 2016
Rep. Keith Ellison from Minnesota, the first Muslim elected to Congress, has also publicly endorsed Sanders.
Hundreds of lawmakers, however, have given their support to Sanders’s rival for the Democratic presidential nod, Hillary Clinton, who is favored to win the nomination.
Grayson said he asked Democratic voters to help him decide who to endorse by voting via his website. According to his statement, over 400,000 people voted, clocking a resounding 89 percent in favor of Sanders compared to 14% for Clinton.
According to a RealClearPolitics average of statewide polls, Sanders is currently polling at 29% in the Florida democratic primary compared with Clinton’s 59%.
On July 9, 2015, Grayson announced his intention to run in the United States Senate election in Florida to replace presidential hopeful Marco Rubio.
On announcing his bid for president, Rubio said he would not seek reelection for the Senate, even if he drops out of the GOP presidential primary. He is currently trailing front-runner Donald Trump and Texas Senator Ted Cruz after 15 state primary and caucuses.
The Times of Israel Community.