Drew Wilson
Democrat Susannah Randolph added to her list of endorsements Tuesday after Minnesota U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison announced his support for the candidate for Florida’s 9th Congressional District.
“Susannah is a true Progressive Democrat with a lifelong commitment to grassroots organizing and helping Democrats win,” Ellison said in a news release. “I am proud to support her campaign and I look forward to working with her in Congress to build the bench of Progressive, Democratic candidates.”
Randolph said she was “honored” by the endorsement from Ellison, who is both the first Muslim to be elected to Congress and the first black congressman from Minnesota.
Ellison joins former Colorado Democratic U.S. Rep. Pat Schroeder as well as Orange County Comptroller Martha Haynie, Florida House Democratic Leader Mark Pafford, and St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman in supporting Randolph, the former district director for current CD9 Rep. Alan Grayson, who is running for Senate in 2016.
Randolph officially began her CD9 campaign in mid-August and was able to raise about $170,000 through Sept. 30. Through that date, her campaign account had $142,567 on-hand. The total puts her in second place among Democratic CD9 candidates, just behind Democratic State Sen. Darren Soto, who leads the pack with $146,882 on-hand.
Other Democrats in the race include State Rep. Ricardo Rangel, who has about $3,000 in his campaign account, and Grayson’s girlfriend Dr. Dena Minning, who had about $77,000 on-hand at the end of September.
Though the district has a heavy Democratic lean, Republicans Wayne Leibnitzky and Wanda Rentas have also filed for the seat. Leibnitzky has raised just $3,000 and Rentas filed to run in early October after the last quarterly reporting period ended.
