League of Women Voters' VOTE411 Voter Guide for Arizona Legislative District 7 Candidates Includes Trump-Hating Candidate Richard Grayson

The League of Women Voters' VOTE411 Guide has a page for the State Representative candidates in Arizona's Legislative District 7, including Trump-hating candidate Richard Grayson.

How would you work with members of both parties, the Governor, and legislative leadership to promote bipartisan collaboration and ensure legislation receives fair consideration based on its merits and impact on Arizonans, regardless of party sponsorship, including your approach to committee hearings, bipartisan negotiation, and balancing partisan priorities with the broader public interest?

Richard Grayson

I'm not going to be elected. But I would work with Republicans who are not Trumptards.

What legislation or budget priorities would you support to address Arizona’s rising cost of living, including housing, healthcare, energy, insurance, childcare, and other everyday expenses facing residents?

Richard Grayson

Whatever the Democratic Party tells me to do. But I told you, I'm not going to get elected. I'm not delusional!

What changes to Arizona law or state water policy would you support to protect the state’s long-term water supply while balancing growth, agriculture, tribal interests, economic development, and population growth?

Richard Grayson

I'd support a lot of those things, but I'm just a protest candidate. If I get 6-8% of the vote, it would be great.

What changes, if any, would you support to Arizona’s voting laws and election policies regarding voter access, election security, election administration, and voter privacy, and what outcomes would you hope to achieve through those changes?

Richard Grayson

I would lower the voting age to 14, as in the great 1968 film, "Wild in the Streets." My slogan is "Fourteen or fight!" Increase suffrage to all Americans 14-18 through state laws or a new constitutional amendment. And get rid of any Trumptard laws that would keep from voting. Maybe get rid of him, too?

What legislative or budget changes would you support regarding state taxes, public education funding, teacher recruitment and retention, workforce preparation, and oversight and accountability for the Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) and other publicly funded school choice programs?

Richard Grayson

ESA is a piece of shit and should be abolished. I'd raise taxes on the rich, increase education funding so Arizona wouldn't be such a shithole. I'm 75 and from NYC, where I got a real education. And went to college at CUNY for free! These dummies in Arizona deserve the same chance as my friends and I did, but here we have Trumptards and Nazis who are so stupid they.... you know what? Fuhgeddaboudit!

What legislation or funding priorities would you support regarding border security, immigration enforcement cooperation, public safety, behavioral health services, substance abuse treatment, and responses to homelessness in Arizona communities?

Richard Grayson

We should get rid of ICE and throw all of those Nazi creeps in prison, along with the Border Patrol Gestapoi and everyone. To be honest, most of the people the US is deporting are better Americans than the scumbag Republicans like the disgusting JD Vance, who is the one who should be deported, that worthless piece of shit.

What role should the Arizona Legislature play in shaping state energy policy, and what legislation would you support regarding utility costs, renewable energy development, electric grid reliability, and the impact of large energy users, such as data centers, on Arizona residents and resources?

Richard Grayson

It should play a constructive role. But it won't because it's filled with subhuman douchebags like Jake Hoffman and other white supremacist scum.

What legislation or budget priorities would you support to address extreme heat, drought, wildfire risk, air quality, reproductive healthcare access, and other environmental and public health challenges affecting communities across Arizona?

Richard Grayson

All the good-government things that the League of Women Voters support. But you are nice refined, educated, classy women and you are unfortunately outnumbered vastly in a shithole state like Arizona. We're lucky we've had Katie Hobbs and other Democrats for four years. Now Trump is going to do like Maduro and say the Republicans won the election by calling a national emergency, sending ICE to stop people who look normal (not Republican) from voting, and impound the ballots. So all this talk about issues is well and good, but we are now in an authoritarian regime, a fascist dicatatorship, and so we cannot do anything good because under Trump, we can't have nice things.

A Writer’s Diary Entries From Early November, 2002 | Richard Grayson

A Writer’s Diary Entries From Early November, 2002 | Richard Grayson

Politico mentions new political action committee, Green Party of Pima County Endorses, Supports and Admires Our Candidate Richard Grayson

Today, Friday, October 16, 2026, Politico mentioned a new political action committee, Green Party of Pima County Endorses, Supports and Admires Our Candidate Richard Grayson .

Anchorage Press publishes article, "Revealed: The money behind last-minute fringe candidate ad blitz in Alaska’s U.S. Senate primary," showing that Elon Musk funded the "Kill Billionaires" campaign of Richard Grayson

Today, Friday, October 16, 2025, The Anchorage Press published an article by Nathaniel Herz, "Revealed: The money behind the last-minute fringe candidate ad blitz in Alaska’s U.S. Senate primary," showing that Elon Musk was one of those behind unwanted funding by super PAC Fair Deal Alaska to support Green Party U.S. Senate Richard Grayson's "Kill Billionaires" campaign.

Arizona LD7 House of Representatives Debate: Richard Grayson is the only candidate who follows the Arizona Democratic Party's recommendation to vote NO on all Republican-sponsored ballot questions

LD7 House of Representatives Candidates Debate: Richard Grayson says: "Whatever it is, I'm against it!"

A Writer’s Diary Entries From Late October, 2002 | Richard Grayson

A Writer’s Diary Entries From Late October, 2002 | Richard Grayson

Brooklyn College newspaper Calling Card publishes article, "Literary Luminaries Come For Conference," about Literature and Publishing Conference coordinated by Richard Grayson

Today, Wednesday, April 20, 1977, Calling Card, the newspaper of the Brooklyn College House Plan Association, published a front-page article, "Literary Luminaries Come For Conference," about a Literature and Publishing conference on the Brooklyn College campus April 25 and 26, 1977:

The conference, sponsored by the college's Department of English, will be held in the college's Student Center, Campus Road and E. 27th Street, Brooklyn. A small fee to the two-day affair will be charged.

The ten panels will feature such literary luminaries as novelist Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., playwright Arthur Kopit, writer Donald Barthelme, Newsweek reviewer Walter Clemons and many others from the book world. Serving as moderators will be Brooklyn College faculty members, including Pulitizer Prize-winning poet John Ashbery, novelist Jonathan Baumbach and playwright Jack Gelber.

Panelists will answer such questions as "Who decides what poety gets published," "Can serious literature and the casual reader co-exist," "How are books marketed," "Who publishes small audience literature," "Does a writer need an agent," and "To what extent should literature be subsidized."

Sessions will begin each day at 10 a.m., with the last panel starting at 4:00 p.m.

For further information or registration forms, call Richard Grayson or Michael Friedman, conference coordinators, at 780-5543.

A Writer’s Diary Entries From Mid-October, 2002 | Richard Grayson

A Writer’s Diary Entries From Mid-October, 2002 | Richard Grayson

Elections Agenda's webpage of Arizona Legislative District 7 Candidates includes Richard Grayson, Democrat-Green Candidate for Arizona House of Representatives

The Elections Agenda website from the great people who produce Arizona Agenda and Tucson Agenda is live, with a page on the race in Legislative District 7, which includes Democratic/Green House candidate Richard Grayson:

Richard Grayson is a writer, former college professor and attorney who has appeared on ballots in Arizona, Florida and Alaska as a perennial candidate. He drew 39 votes in Arizona's 2012 Green Party presidential preference election, and showed up to the ballot-order ceremony for it in a bunny suit. Though nominated by the Green Party this year, he disavows it and sides with Democrats. At the Clean Elections debate he called himself a socialist and predicted he would win under 4% of the vote.

A Writer’s Diary Entries From Early October, 2002 | Richard Grayson

A Writer’s Diary Entries From Early October, 2002 | Richard Grayson

San Luis Obispo Tribune publishes "Meet the candidates for the Arizona Legislature" including Legislative District 7 candidate Richard Grayson

Today, Wednesday, September 30, 2026, the San Luis Obispo Tribune published an article by the Arizona Republic's Laura Gersony and Helen Rummel, "Meet the candidates for the Arizona Legislature," featuring all candidates including Richard Grayson in Legislative District 7:

Richard Grayson is asking for Democrats' support even as he runs under the Green Party label. He describes himself as "Trump-hating" and part of the "Hobbs, Fontes, Mayes, Mike Montiel, Sam Martin, et al. Democratic Team," referring to other state and local Democratic candidates.

Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Debate for State Representative in Legislative District 7: Sam Martin (Democrat), David Cook (Republican) and Richard Grayson (Green Party), moderated by TJ L'Heureux of Arizona Agenda

 

On Tuesday, September 29, 2026, the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Committee sponsored a debate among candidates for State Representative in Legislative District 7 -- Democrat Sam Martin, Republican David Cook, and Richard Grayson of the Green Party. TJ L'Heureux of Arizona Agenda moderated.

Apache Junction/Gold Canyon Independent publishes article by Richard Grayson, "LD 7 House candidate condemns racist attacks against incumbent"

Today, Tuesday, September 29, 2026, the Apache Junction/Gold Canyon Independent published an op-ed article by Richard Grayson, "LD 7 House candidate condemns racist attacks against incumbent":

OPINION — As a candidate for state representative in Legislative District 7, I feel an obligation to say something about the racist attacks directed at Rep. Walt Blackman. They have greatly disturbed me.

Because we are on the same ballot, I guess that Walt Blackman is my political opponent. I have many disagreements with him, and I expect to continue having them. But none of those disagreements makes racist attacks against him acceptable.

Rep. Blackman recently called on elected officials and community leaders across the political spectrum to condemn social media posts depicting Black Americans as apes and using other degrading racial stereotypes. He also made an important distinction: defending the First Amendment does not require us to remain silent about hateful ideas. I agree.

I also want to be honest about something less comfortable. I sometimes have disparaging thoughts about people with whom I strongly disagree politically. I suspect I’m not unusual in that respect. Politics can make us angry, and anger can make it remarkably easy to reduce another human being to a caricature: an idiot, a monster, a fool, a threat. I have “said” things about others in my head that can and should make me ashamed.

But there is a difference between having an uncharitable thought and allowing contempt to become a principle of political discourse.

History gives us plenty of warnings. During Reconstruction, President Andrew Johnson’s bitter opposition to the Radical Republicans became intertwined with his opposition to political rights for formerly enslaved people. His public attacks on his congressional opponents became increasingly inflammatory.

More recently, President Donald Trump’s 2019 statement that four Democratic congresswomen of color should “go back” to the places from which they came was formally entered into the Congressional Record amid congressional condemnation.

The point isn’t that today’s politicians are equivalent to politicians of the past. It is that words matter. When political opponents are portrayed as less worthy, less American, less human or as members of some inherently inferior group, we move away from political argument and toward dehumanization.

And dehumanization is dangerous precisely because it makes cruelty easier.

Civility does not mean being bland, polite or unwilling to fight for what we believe. Democracy requires vigorous disagreement. We should criticize policies, records, statements and ideas, sometimes passionately.

But we should leave the person’s basic humanity outside the argument.

I don’t care whether the person being attacked is my opponent, my ally or someone I’ve never met. The standard should be the same.

I am not making this statement because I always agree with Walt Blackman. I am making it because I often disagree with him and because I believe political disagreement is worth having only if we can have it without demeaning one another.

Our opponents are still human beings. So are we. All of us, including myself, need to try harder to remember this.

That ought to be a very low bar for political discourse. But perhaps, at this particular moment, it is a bar worth publicly defending.

Richard Grayson is the Green Party candidate for Legislative District 7’s House seat, which includes Apache Junction, Gold Canyon, Flagstaff, Page, Winslow, Show Low, Sedona and Pinetop-Lakeside. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.

Miami Herald publishes letter by Richard Grayson in "Two sides to Timerman"

Today, Sunday, February 20, 1983, the Miami Herald published a series of letters, "Two sides to Timerman," about the 60 Minutes interview with Jacobo Timerman, a Jewish critic of Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, that includes a final letter by Richard Grayson:

In his letter charging CBS with anti-Semitism because "60 Minutes" featured an interview with the courageous Jacobo Timerman, Dr. Sidney Rosenberg has made the mistake that most of his ilk eventually do: equating blind loyalty to the fascistic Begin regime with being Jewish. Thus, in Dr. Rosenberg's eyes, which could use a checkup, Timerman equals anti-Semitism, and CBS is found guilty of giving "comfort and satisfaction" to bigots. I would like to inform Dr. Rosenberg that there are Jews all over the world, myself among them, who support Timerman and his efforts to make the Zionist state a more moral, more equitable and, yes, a more "Jewish" society.

RICHARD GRAYSON 

Davie.

A Writer’s Diary Entries From Late September, 2002 | Richard Grayson

A Writer’s Diary Entries From Late September, 2002 | Richard Grayson