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.

T

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

Tucson Weekly publishes article, "Richard Grayson: Breaking News," about the candidate's withdrawal from the presidential race

Today, Thursday, January 3, 2008, Tucson Weekly published an article, "Richard Grayson: Breaking News": 

Richard Grayson withdrew from the race for the Presidency yesterday, changing the 2008 Arizona Democratic presidential preference primary campaign back into a 23-way race and sending other candidates scrambling to fill the space he left on the political map. 

The announcement in Apache Junction followed days of turmoil and division in the campaign of the handsome writer. Political professionals in both parties struggled to figure out who was helped and who was hurt by Mr. Grayson’s withdrawal. Some argued that his presence in the race would have simply divided the vote, and thus his leaving would inevitably help the other morons running; there were polls this week that seemed to back that up. 

Others, however, argued that Mr. Grayson’s withdrawal helped no one because they believed Mr. Grayson’s strength, at its core, was nonexistent. 

What was clear was that Mr. Grayson’s abrupt announcement reconfigured the rules of a game that the forty-eight candidates on the Arizona ballot were just beginning to learn. His reluctant candidacy, which surged in the polls last month before fading from boredom, had raised a host of strange and new scenarios. 

Chief among them was an election in which no one candidate would garner more than 5% of the vote in the February 5 primary. Mr. Grayson cited that possibility yesterday as the main reason for his withdrawal although he also had said he had withdrawn after hearing that other candidates were scheming to smear his daughter with a computer-altered photograph on Facebook and to disrupt her wedding. 

“The fact that I don’t have a daughter and she has no plans to get married apparently didn’t stop these political dirty tricksters,” Mr. Grayson charged. “They’re worse than Nixon.” 

Mr. Grayson offered no evidence, only quoting friends and an anonymous comment on an obscure blog.“I can’t prove any of it today,” he said on the CBS News program “60 Minutes.” “But it was a risk I did not have to take,” he added, “and a risk I would not take where my daughter is concerned.” 

A spokesman for the Arizona Democratic party dismissed Mr. Grayson’s assertions as “all loony” and questioned the spelling of the word “withdrawal” in the cartoon panel above.

Arizona Agenda's "What We're Laughing At" Laughs at Candidate Richard Grayson in Arizona's Legislative District 7

Today, Wednesday, September 23, 2026, Arizona Agenda's "What We're Laughing At" section focuses on Legsislative District 7 candidate Richard Grayson:

We got an email from candidate Richard Grayson recently bragging that he had broken the algorithm for a tool on iVoterGuide that measures where a candidate falls on the political spectrum.

“I seem to be the only person in the voter guide who got that rating! I feel like everyone else is G, PG, PG-13 or R and I am NC-17,” he told us.

And “unclassifiable” is the perfect term for Grayson, a serial candidate and political performance artist who has run for something — often multiple things at once — every year for about as long as we can remember.

This year, Grayson is running as a Green Party candidate seeking a seat in the state House representing Legislative District 7, though on his campaign website he warns people not to vote for any Green Party candidates because they’re “jerks.”

We first came across Grayson in 2008 as part of Project White House, an “experiment in reality journalism,” run by longtime political reporter Jim Nintzel, back when he was in charge of the then-venerable Tucson Weekly.

Short version: Nintzel realized that all you had to do to qualify for the Presidential Preference Election in Arizona was get a form notarized.

So he enlisted the weirdest Tucsonans he could find to run for president.

Grayson was one of those weirdos.

Nintzel actually ran the gag for two presidential election cycles — in 2008 and 2012 — adding dozens of names to the ballot all for the sake of a good laugh.

Grayson ran both times, though he dropped out pretty early in 2008, citing “days of turmoil and division in the campaign of the handsome (candidate).”

Unfortunately, lawmakers eventually wised up to Nintzel, and they changed the law so he couldn’t run the same scam in the 2016 election cycle, as we wrote back then.

Anyway, this trip down memory lane gave us a good excuse to text Nintzel about the great joy we still get from those 2008-2012 Project White House archives.

“Had no idea at the time that it would serve as a model for so many modern-day candidates but here we are,” he wrote back.

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

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

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

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

Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission publishes November 2026 Voter Education Guide, including Candidates for State Representative District 7

The Arizona Citizens Clean Election Commission has published it November 2026 Voter Education Guide  featuring candidates for state offices, including for State Representative in Legislative District 7, where Walter "Walt" Blackman, David Cook Sr., Richard Grayson, and Samuel "Sam" Martin are the candidates.

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

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

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

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

November 3, 2026 General Election: Arizona Legislative District 7 Ballot for State Representative Candidates

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

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

Richard Grayson is 2028 Candidate for Alaska's Other Senate Seat; His Primary Campaign Committee is "Senate Candidate Richard Grayson Will Sell Alaska to Russia Canada or Norway"

Failed Alaska U.S. Senate candidate Richard Grayson, who came in 16th in the August 18 primary, with just 345 votes after super PAC Fair Deal Alaska spent $330,000 on his campaign, is attempting to get revenge on the state's voters by filing with the Federal Election Commission to run as a 2028 candidate for Alaska's other Senate seat, currently held by Republican Lisa Murkowski. His principal campaign committee is Senate Candidate Richard Grayson Will Sell Alaska to Russia Canada or Norway.

Wall Street Journal publishes "Potomac Watch" column, "Alaska's Ranked-Choice Travesty," which discusses Richard Grayson's campaign for U.S. Senate

Today, Friday, August 21, 2026, the Wall Street Journal published on page A13 a "Potomac Watch" column by Kimbereley A. Strassel, "Alaska's Ranked-Choice Travesty," which discusses Richard Grayson's campaign for U.S. Senate.

Alaska's House contest featured, again, Eric Hafner, who is serving a federal prison term in New York after pleading guilty in connection with a string of threats against government officials. He made the final ballot in 2024, and may do so this year, too. The Senate race featured his mother, Carol Hafner, and Green candidate Richard Grayson—neither of whom lives in the state. Of more than 30 candidates running for the Senate and House, few outside the incumbents or the main Democratic challenger even tried to raise money. Mr. Grayson recently explained that he was running “for fun,” that he actually supports Democrat Mary Peltola, and that if he makes the final four, he'll quit . . . [A] mystery organization, Fair Deal Alaaka, ran more than $750,000 to help the Carol Hafner campaigns draw votes from Mrs. Peltola.

Northern Journal/Anchorage Press publishes article, "This Democratic Socialist could cost Mary Peltola votes in November. But he says he’d actually boost her," mentioning Richard Grayson's campaign for U.S. Senator from Alaska

Today, Friday, August 21, 2026, the Norhtern Journal/Anchorage Press published an article by Nathaniel Herz, "This Democratic Socialist could cost Mary Peltola votes in November. But he says he’d actually boost her, " briefly mentioning Richard Grayson's campaign for U.S. Senator from Alaska:

Leading up to Alaska’s high-profile U.S. Senate primary, political groups spent millions of dollars to boost not only the leading Republicans and Democrats, but who could tip the balance of a tight race in November.

Most of those efforts fell flat — namely, those that tried to boost spoiler candidates who don’t even live in Alaska, like Arizona resident and Green Party candidate Richard Grayson, who garnered just 343 votes in preliminary counts.

*

Update as of Thursday, August 26, 2026: Richard Grayson has garnered 400 votes.

 

New York Times publishes article, "Unusual Spending Raises Prospect of Election Meddling in Alaska," discussing shady super PACs unwanted and unwarranted support of the U.S. Senate campaign of Green Party Richard Grayson and others

Today, Wednesday, August 19, 2026, the New York Times published an article by Theodore Schleifer, "Unusual Spending Raises Prospect of Election Meddling in Alaska," discusses the unwanted and unwarranted financial support of the shady super PAC Fair Deal Alaska on behalf of the campaigns of Green Party U.S. Senate candidate Richard Grayson and other minor candidates. The article was published in the print edition for Thursday, August 20, 2026 on page 18A.

About $800,000 has been spent in the last few weeks by the super PAC Fair Deal Alaska to not only attack the leading Democratic candidate, Mary Peltola, but also boost two lesser-known hopefuls, the Green Party candidate Richard Grayson (who lives in Arizona) and Carol Hafner, another Democrat who could pull votes away from Ms. Peltola. That could benefit the Republican incumbent, Senator Dan Sullivan. Fair Deal Alaska formed just late last month, meaning its donors have not yet been disclosed.

Anchorage Daily News publishes an article by Alex DeMarban, " In Alaska's hotly contested U.S. Senate race, challenger Mary Peltola jumps to early lead," mentioning candidate Richard Grayson

Today, Wednessday, August 19, 2026, the Anchorage Daily News published an article by Alex DeMarban, " In Alaska's hotly contested U.S. Senate race, challenger Mary Peltola jumps to early lead," about the election results, mentioning Richard Grayson's candidacy:

The race has been marked by fringe candidates who have gotten a boost with help from shadowy political action committees. 

Peltola's recently campaign committee launched a website — theyarenotfromhere.com — arguing that national Republicans were spending big to promote spoiler candidates.

Fair Deal Alaska, which formed late last month, spent more than $800,000 promoting Carol Hafner, a Democrat, and Richard Grayson, a Green Party member, in an effort to weaken support for Peltola. Both Hafner and Grayson live in the Lower 48 and have run for office in other states.

Together, they'd received less than 1% of the vote early Wednesday.

The Alaska Current publishes article, "Mary Peltola ahead of GOP US Sen. Dan Sullivan in Alaska's Senate primary," mentioning Richard Grayson's campaign

Today, Wednesday, August 19, 2026, The Alaska Current published an article by Matt Acuña Buxton, "Mary Peltola ahead of GOP US Sen. Dan Sullivan in Alaska's Senate primary," briefly mentioning Richard Grayson's campaign:

The Outside-driven spending appears to have had little impact. For example, Green Party candidate Richard Grayson—boosted by a conservative group trying to paint Peltola as too friendly with Trump— finished second to last in the 16-way race with just 328 votes. 

Shady Super PAC Fair Deal Alaska's Postcard Mailers Supporting Richard Grayson's Campaign for the U.S. Senate from Alaska

 

Note: We had nothing to do with these mailings, sent out to many Alaska households by a shady Super PAC whose goal is to split the Democratic and progressive vote and hurt Mary Peltola, who is the subject of false charges and vicious disparagement on many of the mailers, which we do not wish to show here.

Juneau Independent publishes column, "How campaigns show they don't respect voters," attacking Richard Grayson, Alaska's Green Party candidate for U.S. Senator

Today, Friday, August 14, 2026, the Juneau Inddependent published a column by Rich Moniak, "How campaigns show they don't respect voters," attacking Richard Grayson, the Green Party candidate for U.S. Senator from Alaska, writing, "(T)he fact Grayson is also on the ballot for Arizona House District 7 this year is proof his Alaska campaign is a sham."

Alaska Public Media publishes article, "Super PACs try to game Alaska’s open primary for U.S. Senate by elevating political unknowns," about super PAC spending for Richard Grayson and other candidates

Today, Friday, August 14, 2026, Alaska Public Media published an article by Liz Ruskin, "Super PACs try to game Alaska’s open primary for U.S. Senate by elevating political unknowns," about super PACs spending for Richard Grayson and other candidates.

Green Party Senate candidate Richard Grayson knows flyers with his name and face are clogging mailboxes around Alaska. But he doesn’t get them. He lives in Arizona.

A retired law school administrator, Grayson has run for office a lot, all over the country, with no expectation of winning.

“Egotism. I don't know. Curiosity,” he said, when asked why. “If you look me up, you see I've been doing this since 1979.”

He isn’t in Alaska to campaign and has raised no money. A group called Fair Deal Alaska has spent about $800,000 to help him and another non-Alaskan perennial candidate, Democrat Carol Hafner, with direct mail and text messages.

Fair Deal even has video ads promoting him on social media.

“It was an ego trip to see an actual, like, commercial,” Grayson said.

Grayson, though, is aware he’s a pawn in someone else’s false-flag operation.

Money is pouring into Alaska’s U.S. Senate race as the Aug. 18 primary nears.

...

As for Grayson, the Green Party candidate in Arizona, he doesn’t think he’ll finish in the top four of the primary, even with all the promotion.

And if he does advance to the general election? He said he’d do what he could to help Peltola, because he wants her to win.

“If I were on the (November) ballot, I would just tell people — and have her tell people —I support her,” Grayson said. “Don't vote for me.”

No matter how many — or few — votes Grayson gets, Alaskans will probably see his name on future ballots. He said he likes how easy the state makes it to become a candidate.

“You don't need any signatures,” he said. “You just have to give them a $100 check.”

Anchorage Daily News publishes article, "Millions pour into Alaska to boost fringe U.S. Senate candidates," about super PAC spending for Richard Grayson and other candidates

Today, Thursday, August 13, 2026, the Anchorage Daily News published an article by Iris Samuels, "Millions pour into Alaska to boost fringe U.S. Senate candidates," about super PAC spending for Richard Grayson and other candidates.

Fair Deal Alaska, which formed late last month, has already spent nearly $770,000, primarily supporting Carol Hafner and Richard Grayson, who could draw votes away from Peltola.

Both Hafner, a Democrat, and Grayson, a Green Party member, live in the Lower 48 and have run for office in other states.

In an interview Wednesday, Grayson called the spending a "revolting" development that makes him "uncomfortable and angry." He said he is running for office "for fun" and he supports Peltola's candidacy.

A candidate who finishes among the top four in the primary can withdraw from the general election, potentially allowing the fifth-place finisher to advance.

That is exactly what Grayson intends to do, he said Wednesday from his home in Arizona.

"I won't be on the ballot in Alaska because if I do finish at the top four, I'll just do what Nancy Dahlstrom and Matthew Salisbury did in the House race two years ago," said Grayson, referring to the 2024 U.S. House race, when the third- and fourth-place finishers dropped out of the race amid pressure from the Alaska Republican Party, elevating the fifth- and sixth-place finishers onto the general election ballot.

"You just withdraw. That's why I don't understand this now," said Grayson.

Alaskans for Mary PAC website They Are Not From Here attacks super PAC Fair Deal Alaska for supporting Richard Grayson & Carol Hafner for U.S. Senator

They Are Not From Here

Shady Super PAC "Fair Deal Alaska" Sends Out Mailings Supporting Richard Grayson for the U.S. Senate from Alaska without Candidate's Knowledge

-- Reddit post, "Lower 48 candidates in Alaska's 2026 U.S. Senate election," April 12, 2026

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

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

Alaska Beacon publishes article, "Why super PACs are suddenly spending big on Alaska’s US Senate underdogs," about money given to Richard Grayson and other candidates

Today, Wednesday, August 12, 2026, the Alaska Beacon published an article by Joedy McCreary of Open Secrets, "Why super PACs are suddenly spending big on Alaska’s US Senate underdogs," about money given to Richard Grayson and other candidates

Shady Super PAC "Fair Deal Alaska" Spends $343,384 on the Campaign of Alaska's Green Party U.S. Senate Candidate Richard Grayson

According to Capitol Hill Access and our own somewhat suspect mathematical skills the shady, presumably right-wing Republican super PAC Fair Deal Alaska has spent $313,431 $330,474 $343,384 on the Alaska U.S. Senate campaign of Green Party candidate Richard Grayson.

Update, Friday, August 14, 2026: More recent spending on Grayson's campaign: 

Update, Monday, August 17, 2026: More recent spending on Grayson's campaign: