National GOP vets new challengers for Grayson
Mark K. Matthews and David Damron
Sentinel Staff Writers
7:15 p.m. EDT, October 28, 2009
WASHINGTON - National Republicans met with two potential challengers to U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson on Wednesday as the GOP establishment continued to search for a candidate who can topple the outspoken freshman Democrat from Orlando.
State Rep. Eric Eisnaugle, R-Orlando, and businessman Bruce O'Donoghue sat down with GOP lawmakers and strategists from the National Republican Congressional Committee in meetings that participants described as productive -- although no verdict was reached.
"It's great to see that these folks are very serious about the direction that this country is going," said O'Donoghue, who wouldn't commit to run. "This race is going to draw national attention, and they wanted to prep me on what that meant."
The Capitol Hill meetings reflect a growing unease among national Republicans with the early field assembled to challenge Grayson, a GOP target since the wealthy attorney unseated former U.S. Rep. Ric Keller, R-Orlando, in a bruising election last year.
These include Orlando attorney Todd Long and three Tea Party activists: Dan Fanelli of Orlando, Patricia Sullivan of Eustis and Peg Dunmire.
A major point of disagreement, however, centers on the candidacy of transplanted Miami developer Armando Gutierrez, who has racked up endorsements from several Florida Republicans but has yet to earn the trust of the NRCC.
"We want somebody who is familiar with Orlando and what's going on in Orange County," said U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Georgia, who is helping vet potential candidates. The line echoes concerns with Gutierrez, the son of a Miami political consultant who moved to Orlando earlier this fall.
Gutierrez said he has not been invited to meet with Westmoreland or other top GOP vetting officials, such as state House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala. However, he boasts of positive responses from local Republicans -- including Orlando attorney/fundraiser Fred Leonhardt -- and says he has rounded up nearly a dozen new endorsements that he will roll out soon.
Gutierrez, 28, said he's not been told by party officials that his recent move from South Florida or his youth would be a detriment in challenging Grayson. "I haven't heard anything of that sort," Gutierrez said, and added, "It's too early for the party to get involved with any campaign."
Long, 45, who lost to Keller in a GOP primary in 2008, also said he's not been invited to discuss the race with party officials in Washington.
"The party is consistently not lining up behind the Reagan conservatives like me," said Long. "I'm not really concerned with what they do."
Several top-tier politicians have declined to run, including Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty, former state Sen. Dan Webster and Cretul. With their departures, national Republicans are focusing on O'Donoghue, Eisnaugle and Orlando attorney Will McBride, who ran unsuccessfully against Katherine Harris in the GOP primary for U.S. Senate in 2006.
O'Donoghue, 55, is head of a family-run traffic-signal company in Winter Park with no previous political experience. National party officials said they contacted him after he expressed interest in running,
Eisnaugle, a 32-year-old first-term legislator, is the former head of the Orange County Young Republicans and is known in Tallahassee for his conservative positions on social issues.
McBride is a 37-year-old trial lawyer with a heavily Hispanic clientele -- his billboards depict him as "Abogado William" -- whose father-in-law, Stuart Epperson, is a politically connected Christian radio station owner.
"Those are the three names being batted around," said Eisnaugle, who added that he expects to make his own decision after returning home to discuss a potential bid with his family.
Grayson is a tempting GOP target because he represents a district that is almost evenly split between Democrats and Republicans and because of his penchant for outrageous remarks in his self-chosen role as a Democratic attack dog -- a title Grayson relishes.
Grayson made national headlines last month when he said the GOP healthcare plan was for sick patients to "die quickly." Since then, he's gone on MSNBC to compare former Vice President Dick Cheney to a vampire -- with "blood that drips from his teeth" -- prompting host Chris Matthews to term him "Captain Cojones."
Earlier this week, he was castigated by both Republicans and Democrats from describing a Federal Reserve senior adviser -- a woman former lobbyist who took issue with Grayson's criticism of the Fed -- as a "K Street whore."
"People like a congressman with guts," said Grayson, a day after he apologized for using the insult. "If you look around the country, the Democrats who do well in competitive districts are the ones that are outspoken and lay out on the line," said Grayson, who describes himself as a populist. "The Democrats who run into trouble ... are the ones who try to be Republicans."
Mark K. Matthews, who reported from Washington, can be reached at mmatthews@orlandosentinel.com or 202-824-8222. David Damron, who reported from Orlando, can be reached at ddamron@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5311.
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