Alan Grayson Becomes First Jewish Lawmaker To Endorse Bernie Sanders

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Sign up for Forwarding the News, our essential morning briefing with trusted, nonpartisan news and analysis, curated by Senior Writer Benyamin Cohen.
Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., is the first Jewish member of Congress to endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in his presidential bid.
Grayson, who is running his own anti-establishment bid for the Democratic nomination for senator in Florida, becomes one of just five Democrats endorsing Sanders, who also is Jewish. Another is Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the first Muslim elected to Congress.
“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,” Grayson said in a statement quoted Feb. 29 by Roll Call. “We want to make elections into something different: Not the lesser of two evils, but the greater good.”
Hundreds of lawmakers have endorsed Sanders’ rival for the Democratic presidential nod, Hillary Rodham Clinton.