Alan and Dena Grayson said they met in front of a baggage compartment as they were departing their flight (she couldn’t reach her bags) and now two years later the newlyweds may be writing history serving as U.S. senator and congresswoman from the state of Florida.
“I’m in love with my best friend," Dr. Dena Grayson said. "What gets better than that?”
The two have been dating for two years, a love of science their common bond.
They were married in a private ceremony over the Memorial Day weekend and now U.S. Rep.Alan Grayson is running for Marco Rubio’s Senate seat and Dr. Grayson is on the ballot for her husband’s old job.
So is it politics or romance?
“It’s sort of in spite of politics, perhaps,” Dena Grayson said. ”It’s not why we got married, certainly not why we fell in love.”
At 5-foot-1 the “vertically challenged” Ph.D. says she was perfectly happy assuming the role of the wife of a congressman but then fate stepped in and she decided to run.
One of central Florida’s top experts on viruses, Dena Grayson is concerned that 20 percent of the people living in the 9th Congressional District have no health care.
“That is just wrong,” she said.
Grayson says her mentor Kathleen Kennedy, eldest daughter of Bobby Kennedy, always urged her to run for office.
“I’ve been thinking about this for nine years,’ ” she said. "Who better to fight as a champion for better health care for all central Floridians?”
When asked if he was happy, Alan Grayson said, “Oh God yes, for sure. We are in love.”
Grayson admits his bid for Marco Rubio’s Senate seat will be tough.
Several political insiders tried to convince him not to run for the seat, but Grayson refused to back down.
“The polls are tight," he said, "but the fact is I’m offering something to people they’re not going to get
from anybody else-- someone who pays attention, works hard and gets good things done.”
When asked if he supported his wife’s candidacy, he replied, “With all my heart.”