Kendrick Meek Jr. says he’s ready to build his own legacy with congressional run
Standing inside his late grandmother Carrie Meek’s Gladeview home before about a dozen family members and supporters, Kendrick Meek Jr. formally announced he would be following in her footsteps by running for Congress in the crowded District 24 race.
“I’m a son of this community, I’m a lawyer, a public policy professional, and someone who has dedicated my life to understanding how government can work better for people,” Meek told press Friday afternoon as a portrait of his grandmother hung behind him. “Before any title, I’m someone that believes in this district. I know the challenges we face are real, but I also know the strength, resilience, creativity and determination of this community are even greater. That is who I am. That is where I come from, and that is why I’m running.”
The home has historical significance: It is where Carrie Meek, then a community activist, launched her 1979 campaign for Florida House of Representatives after Gwen Cherry passed.
Though a political newcomer, Meek comes from a family of politicians. His grandmother Carrie Meek was among Florida’s first three Black representatives in Congress since Reconstruction after a federal court drew the majority-Black South Florida district to comply with the federal Voting Rights Act. His father, Kendrick Meek Sr., then held the seat from 2003 until 2011. He gave up the seat to run an unsuccessful campaign for U.S. Senate in 2011.
Meek is acutely aware of his family’s legacy, but he emphasized he’s running for residents, not his legacy – that he has to earn, he said. “I’m proud of my grandmother’s legacy. I’m proud of my father’s legacy, but I look forward to building my own. I know that that’ll take a lot of work, and I’m ready,” he told the Herald.
Meek joins a crowded field of candidates already seeking to fill the District 24 seat since Congresswoman Frederica Wilson announced she would not be seeking reelection. Miami-Dade County Commissioner Oliver Gilbert, state Sen. Shevrin Jones, former attorney Roderick Vereen, attorney and doctor Rudy Moise, and Marshall L. Davis Sr, managing director of the Marshall L. Davis Sr. African Heritage Cultural Arts Center (named in his honor) are all in the race.
A University of Florida graduate, Meek has twice interned in the House of Representatives, served as a legal assistant with the Human Rights Campaign and worked with the federal Office of Management and Budget, according to his resume.
After completing his law degree at the University of Miami, Meek went on to work as an associate attorney for Miami Beach-based LSN Law, where he specializes in land use, zoning and real estate development law. Meek said he’s worked on affordable housing efforts in South Florida, but declined to specify which ones as they were still in progress.
Like many of his opponents, Meek is running on a campaign focused on affordability. “This seat belongs to the people, and I want to earn your vote by showing up, by listening, and by doing the work,” he said. “In South Florida, too many families are doing everything right and still falling behind. Housing is too expensive, gas is at $5 a gallon, and student debt is crushing an entire generation of young people. That has to change.”
Meek said he decided not to run for a local office because he’s already gained experience working in Washington, D.C., making him poised to serve in Congress.
“It’s something that I watched my grandmother do, I watched my father do, and they instilled that ethic of public service in me,” he said “I know that I can take those values and my skills to the House of Representatives on behalf of this community.”
His father said through tears that Carrie Meek’s spirit was running through his son. “This young man has committed his entire life to public service, and serving,” he said. “The response that we’re getting from the community of his candidacy is just amazing. I was at U-Haul, and [a] guy was like, ‘we saw it on the news, we’re in with Kendrick all the way.’”
The former congressman said he’d counseled his son before he decided to run, telling him it required thick skin, but the younger Meek was determined.
While no formal endorsements have been made, Miami-Dade County School Board member Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall, North Miami mayor Alix Desulme, and former longtime North Miami commissioner Scott Galvin were present at the announcement
The father-son Meek duo will hit the campaign trail together over the next two months, hoping to earn every vote in a crowded field where endorsements, name recognition and dollars may be the deciding factor.
But Meek said he just wants to show up for residents. “This race, it’s not about me, it’s not about my family, it’s about the district,” he said.
This story was originally published June 12, 2026 at 8:05 PM.
