The new congressman from Florida’s 8th District is Republican Daniel Webster, who defeated freshman Democrat Alan Grayson in one of 2010’s most negative campaigns. Read More

The new congressman from Florida’s 8th District is Republican Daniel Webster, who defeated freshman Democrat Alan Grayson in one of 2010’s most negative campaigns.

Webster was born in Charleston, W.Va. His family moved to Florida when he was 7 years old because a doctor told them the climate would help cure Webster’s sinus problems. He graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1971 with a degree in electrical engineering, and began working in his family’s heating and air conditioning business. In 1972, he married Sandra Jordan, and the couple had six children. Webster eventually took over the family business. He became politically active in 1979, when he led his church’s effort to turn a house into a Sunday school, only to be refused a zoning exemption by the county commission.

He won a seat in the state House in 1996, and later became the first Republican speaker of the Florida House in 122 years. He sponsored a bill to ban nude performances in bars and another that would have required the legislature to study the impact of proposed laws on families. In 1998, Webster moved on to the state Senate, where he pushed to decrease the amount of gun control regulation and to restrict abortion rights. He also led legislative efforts to prolong the life of Terri Schiavo, a woman in a persistent vegetative state who became a national cause for conservatives. In 2008, he sponsored a bill requiring women to get an ultrasound and view the results before getting an abortion.

With the backing of national Republicans, he challenged Grayson in 2010. Grayson had become a lightning rod for conservatives because of his harsh rhetoric toward them during his two years in Congress. He once called Republicans “knuckle-dragging Neanderthals,” and on another occasion charged that the GOP solution to the health care crisis was for people to “die quickly.” His unapologetic liberalism made him a hero to the left, but Webster and Republicans believed him to be a poor fit for the more tempered politics of the district. Webster prevailed in a crowded primary with 40% of the vote. His nearest opponent was lawyer Todd Long, who finished with 23%.

In the fall, things heated up quickly. One of Grayson’s television ads dubbed Webster “Taliban Dan,” and accused him of proposing to make divorce illegal and believing that women should submit to their husbands. A video clip of Webster in the ad, however, was taken out of context; Webster was actually asserting the opposite, according to the Orlando Sentinel, which endorsed Webster in part because of Grayson’s negative campaigning. Webster refused to debate Grayson, and to return his attacks in kind, saying, “We’re taking the high road. I’m not getting down in the dirt with him.” He focused his campaign on his opposition to the size of the federal government and the passage of President Obama’s health care law.

Grayson’s strategy did manage to energize liberals nationally, and he raked in $6 million for his campaign, way outspending Webster, who raised just $1.8 million. But the district’s voters had other ideas; they turned out Grayson decisively, voting for Webster 56% to 38%.