Charlie Crist taps former Biden-Harris campaign lead to top senior voter push

Democratic U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist has tapped a former campaign lead for now-President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in his bid to retake the Florida governorship.

Crist announced Friday that Lou Grossman of Sarasota, who served as seniors vote director for the 2020 Biden-Harris ticket, will serve as a top adviser for his campaign’s senior outreach efforts.

“I am thrilled to welcome Lou Grossman to our team in our fight to build a Florida for all,” Crist said in a statement. “Florida’s seniors deserve nothing less than a campaign laser-focused on the issues important to them like access to healthcare, affordable housing, nursing home safety, cost of prescription drugs, and many more — all of which will be a cornerstone in our fight to take back the Governor’s mansion in 2022.”

Floridians 65 and older are a vital voting bloc, comprising more than a fifth of the state population, or about 4.51 million residents, according to U.S. Census figures.

A veteran of local and state campaigns, Grossman’s resumé on senior interests is broad and deep. He is the founder and president of the Sarasota County Seniors Democratic Caucus and a board member of the State Seniors Caucus and State Seniors Organizing Council. He is also a member of the Sarasota County Democratic Executive Committee and the Black, Stonewall and Jewish Caucuses.

He was elected as a Biden delegate to the 2020 Democratic National Convention before joining the Biden-Harris campaign full-time.

A Philadelphia-to-Sarasota transplant, he taught as an adjunct professor of strategic communications at Temple University before launching his own public relations firm, Grossman Public Relations Counselors, in 1985.