Hispanic Caucus PAC endorses Murphy for Senate
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus’s Bold PAC is putting its support behind Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.) as he fights in a divisive primary for the open Florida Senate seat.
Members from the group touted Murphy’s progressive chops and cited his commitment to Hispanic families in the state and issues including immigration reform and minimum wage increases.
{mosads}“Whether he’s advocating for comprehensive immigration reform, raising the minimum wage, or making college more affordable, we can always count on Patrick to always put the best interests of our middle class families first,” CHC Bold PAC Chair Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.) said in a statement Thursday.
“CHC BOLD PAC is proud to support Patrick because we know he will work to find commonsense solutions that lift up all of our families in the U.S. Senate.”
The group also linked Republican candidates to presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and his stances on immigration.
“While his Republican opponents stand with Trump and his anti-immigrant policies, Patrick stands with working families and has a proven record of fighting for a better future for all Floridians,” PAC member Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) said in a statement.
Murphy is locked in a bitter primary battle with Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) as they vie for the seat being vacated by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).
Murphy has shored up the bulk of establishment support, including endorsements from President Obama, Vice President Biden and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). Grayson, a liberal firebrand, has received backing from progressive groups like Democracy for America and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.
The Democratic primary escalated last week after a fiery confrontation between Reid and Grayson at the weekly gathering of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Reid has previously called on Grayson to drop out of the race over allegations that he violated House rules by inappropriately running a hedge fund as a congressional candidate. At last week’s meeting, Grayson confronted him about it, saying the ethics allegations aren’t true.
Murphy has faced his own speed bumps in the primary. He has donated more than $16,000 in campaign cash to domestic violence groups after receiving contributions from a longtime friend who pleaded guilty to assaulting his wife, and Republicans are seeking to make an issue out of his relationship with that friend, Democratic donor Ibrahim Al-Rashid.
The winner of the Democratic nomination will face one of the five Republican candidates running: Reps. David Jolly (Fla.) and Ron DeSantis (Fla.), Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera or businessmen Todd Wilcox and Carlos Beruff.
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