FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani endorsed Trey Grayson on Monday in the Republican primary race for U.S. Senate, a move intended to add some vigor to a sagging campaign.
Grayson, the darling of the Republican establishment, is trailing GOP outsider Rand Paul by double digits in public opinion polls. "Trey Grayson is the candidate in this race who will make the right decisions necessary to keep America safe and prevent more attacks on our homeland," Giuliani said in a written statement.
University of Kentucky political scientist Donald Gross said the Grayson campaign badly needed a big-name endorsement.
"The way Trey Grayson's campaign has been running, it's a very good thing," Gross said. "He needed an endorsement from someone who is well-liked by most of the conservative community. Although Giuliani doesn't fit that on some social issues, he's well respected and liked in the wake of 9/11."
Grayson, Kentucky's secretary of state, is one of five
Republicans seeking the GOP nomination to run for the seat of retiring Sen. Jim Bunning.
The Paul campaign dismissed the Giuliani endorsement. "Another pro-abortion, liberal, northeastern Republican endorsing Trey Grayson is just more bad news for him," campaign manager David Adams said Monday.
The winner of the Republican primary will likely face a
prominent Democrat in the fall. Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo and Attorney General Jack Conway are among five Democrats in the race.
Several nationally prominent Republicans have made endorsements in the Kentucky race, though none have come to the state to campaign for their picks.
Earlier this month, Grayson received the endorsement of former vice president Dick Cheney.
Paul, a Bowling Green eye surgeon, has been endorsed by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who said Paul wants to "shake up the status quo" in Washington. He also has the endorsements of former Republican presidential candidates Steve Forbes and Ron Paul, his
father, a Texas congressman.
More importantly in Kentucky, Paul last week received the endorsement of Bunning, a former major league pitcher enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. In Kentucky, that one is key.
Though Bunning became something of a pariah in Washington earlier this when he single-handily held up a $10 billion spending bill that had money for jobless benefits, the 78-year-old remains popular at home.
In his endorsement, Bunning said Paul "will be his own man in Washington, not beholden to the special interests and beltway insiders who come looking for handouts on a daily basis."
Giuliani called Grayson a fresh face who Republicans can trust on national security and fiscal responsibility.
"Like me, Trey Grayson knows we must stay on offense against terrorism, and he supports using all the essential tools we have in that fight, including monitoring the conversations and activities of suspected foreign terrorists as allowed by the Patriot Act," Giuliani said.
Paul has been a critic of the Patriot Act, and particularly a provision that allows authorities to search private property without warrants.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
