He was defeated 59–18% in the Democratic primary by fellow Representative Patrick Murphy,[3] who went on to lose the general election to incumbent Republican Marco Rubio.

[5] On June 14, 2022, Grayson announced that he would drop his bid for Senate and instead run in the open race for Florida's 10th congressional district, in which he lost the Democratic primary.

[8][9] He grew up in Adee Towers, a building financed by the Mitchell–Lama Housing Program, and graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1975.

[10] He graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor of Arts degree with a Special Concentration in Urban Studies in 1978.

In 1986, he helped found the non-profit Alliance for Aging Research in Washington, D.C., and served as an officer of the organization for more than twenty years.

[14] In the 2000s, he worked as a plaintiffs' attorney specializing in whistleblower fraud cases aimed at Iraq War contractors.

[26] During the general election campaign, Grayson maintained a consistent lead over Keller, who had only slightly won renomination in the Republican primary over attorney Todd Long.

[34][35] On Glenn Beck's radio show, Sarah Palin agreed with a co-host's remark, "It's okay if the Republicans lose every seat in the Senate and the House except for one.

[39] Grayson was endorsed by 8th district resident and former Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder (D-CO), who characterized Webster as having "13th-century views" on women's issues.

"[47] Although the two districts had different boundaries, Grayson claimed the House historian had told him that the shift from a 56%–38% loss in 2010 to a 63%–37% victory in 2012 was the biggest comeback in congressional history.

The bill urged high schools to spend one week each September teaching the United States Constitution to high school seniors and also encouraged students to petition the government on an issue of personal importance to them to demonstrate their understanding of their rights and responsibilities as citizens of the United States.

[51][52][53] On the 40th anniversary of the historic 1969 Apollo 11 Moon landing, the U.S. House of Representatives passed Grayson's New Frontier Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2009.

The bill asked the president to present Congress's highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal, to Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin Jr., and Michael Collins, as well as John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth.

He lobbied colleagues personally and in July 2013, David Weigel of Slate magazine called him "the most effective member of the House" and said that he was approaching "an unheralded title: The congressman who's passed more amendments than any of his 434 peers.

Grayson defended the comparison, saying that "here is overwhelming evidence that the Tea Party is the home of bigotry and discrimination in America today, just as the KKK was for an earlier generation.

[58] Grayson gained attention for exchanges with Federal Reserve System Vice Chairman Donald Kohn and Inspector General Elizabeth A.

[59] The 5-minute examination of Coleman in the House Financial Services Committee was posted on Grayson's official YouTube page, and as of December 2010, it has been viewed more than 4 million times.

[60] In a September 2009 The Alex Jones Show segment, Grayson criticized Federal Reserve Chair Bernanke's senior adviser Linda Robertson, saying "Here I am the only member of Congress who actually worked as an economist, this lobbyist, this K-Street whore, is trying to teach me about economics!

[63] Following the AIG bonus payments controversy, Grayson joined fellow freshman Democrat Jim Himes of Connecticut to introduce the Grayson–Himes Pay for Performance Act, legislation to require that all bonuses paid by companies that had received funds under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 be "based on performance".

In the September 6, 2009 edition of The New York Times, columnist Gretchen Morgenson thanked Grayson for uncovering the fact that, due to the federal bailout of mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae, taxpayer money had been funding the legal defense fees for former top executives at the institution.

Grayson's work uncovered that, between September 6, 2008, and July 21, 2009, taxpayers spent $6.3 million defending Fannie Mae executives Franklin Raines, J. Timothy Howard, and Leanne Spencer.

Taxpayers paid an additional $16.8 million to cover legal expenses of workers at the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, Fannie's former regulator.

3221, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009, a bill that, among other things, included a provision that prohibited funding for ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now).

Grayson's extension of remarks directed that the legislation defund any organization that cheats the federal government, not just ACORN.

[73] In response to Republican arguments that the Obama administration's preferred health care bill was too long and complicated, Grayson on March 9, 2010, introduced H.R.

[77] On September 29, 2009, in a late-night speech on the House floor, Grayson presented his impression of the Republicans' health care plan, illustrated by signs.

Grayson supported the Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill that allows victims of wage discrimination to sue for punitive damages.

The bill would provide for a $50 million "Hurricane Research Center" in Central Florida, and Grayson claimed it would immediately generate new jobs.

[91] Grayson has tried to combat wasteful spending by government defense contractors by introducing his "Gold Plating" amendment.

Grayson worked successfully to get the amendment inserted into H.R.5013, the IMPROVE Acquisition Act, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives on April 28, 2010.