Candidates for Wilson’s seat make their pitches to residents at town hall
The candidates for Congressional District 24 have big shoes to fill and residents have a big decision to make.
That was apparent at a town hall debate Tuesday evening at Florida Memorial University, which some attendees said may have swayed them from one particular candidate to being open to hearing what the others had to say.
Elbert Price was one of at least 400 residents who packed the Lou Rawls Center for Performing Arts at FMU who heard from seven of the ten of the candidates vying for the congressional seat held by Congresswoman Frederica Wilson in the wake of her announcing she would not seek reelection.
“Initially, I came in because of Oliver [Gilbert] because he was endorsed by Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, but from what I’ve seen tonight, I got three of them that I got to choose from,” Price said, adding Florida state Sen. Shevrin Jones and attorney Rod Vereen appealed to him.
Candidates, which include former Miami-Dade County commissioner Oliver Gilbert; Florida state Sen. Shevrin Jones; attorney Kendrick Meek, Jr.; longtime director of the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center Marshall L. Davis; attorney Rod Vereen; Miami-Dade Commissioner Jean Monestime and entrepreneur Te Mayonna Brown, fielded a wide range of questions. Rudy Moise, Patricia Gonzalez and Andy Daro were not present at the town hall.
Price said he wants a candidate who isn’t afraid to push back against Donald Trump and his agenda. “I want somebody from here to show some backbone and shut them down, especially with what Trump is doing,” he said, adding he thinks the administration has made a mockery of Congress and was frustrated with the firings of military officials.
Florida’s 24th District is one of a shrinking number of Black-majority districts in the South after sweeping Republican gerrymandering efforts this year with a strong legacy of accessible community-first leadership. With more than 830,000 residents, the population is largely Black and Latino with a median income of $72,293 and median rental rates at $1,946, according to the U.S. Census.
Candidates at Tuesday’s forum largely focused on affordability and education, often agreeing with each other on matters like increasing the federal minimum wage and the need for access to quality affordable housing.
Affordability concerns
At the town hall, most candidates agreed they would support a minimum wage increase, with Meek saying he’d increased the minimum wage to $17. Monestime said he’d encourage labor unions to be at the table during conversations about the minimum wage. Vereen was critical of corporations who strictly employ part-time workers and suggested that part-time employees be encouraged to unionize.
Gilbert noted that small businesses that were affected by the increase could also be given tax breaks to offset costs. Candidates pointed out how cost of living increases have affected the residents, with Gilbert and Jones also criticizing Trump’s tariff policies that have led to increased inflation.
“We have a president who can take us to war whenever he wants and be surprised when the price of oil goes up. We have a president who can implement tariffs whenever he wants, and pretend we’re not the people who are actually going to pay for that,” Gilbert said. “A part of our problem is that we’re not actually doing our job as a country right now. Hold the president accountable.”
The candidates agreed there needs to be more housing stock while also addressing challenges to being able to afford housing. Gilbert said he’d work to change loan requirements to make it accessible for people to afford a home while Monestime said he’d work to cap the first-time homebuyer mortgage interest rate at 3%. Jones acknowledged that a huge issue is corporations being allowed to purchase homes and said he’d work to expand the housing tax credit program.
“No one sitting in this room should have to deal with whether or not you can pay your rent and you work two and three jobs to take care of your families,” Jones said.
Republican makes her case
While some residents remained undecided about Democratic candidates, audience members jeered at pro-MAGA Republican candidate Brown’s policy suggestions and responses to questions around Temporary Protected Status, a protection that prevents immigrants from being deported to countries in turmoil, and student loan cancellation.
Brown grew up in Chicago and describes herself as a real estate developer, small businesswoman and homeschooling mom on her campaign website. Brown is running on a platform to address affordable housing and rising medication costs for seniors, but also supports eliminating the H1-B program and supports mass deportation.
Brown disagreed with many of her fellow candidates on issues such as increasing the minimum wage, saying it would hurt small business owners. She said she did not support the extension of the Temporary Protected Status for immigrants, a protection from deportation affects many of the Haitian immigrants that reside in the district, eliciting grumblings and confusion from attendees. But she agreed with her fellow candidates that dark money should not dictate elections and that teachers are undervalued.
“I ask you not to judge me on what you think, but on what I can deliver,” she said in her opening statement.
What do residents say?
While Price was no closer to deciding who he wanted as his next representative in Congress, Bree Lenoir said she was drawn to Gilbert, citing his work as mayor of Miami Gardens.
“I was there from the inception of Miami Gardens, where there were no businesses. I actually had to go to Miami Lakes or North Miami Beach or Aventura to shop, and now we have our own Chipotle, we have Chick-fil-A, we have all the different things right there in that community,” she said. “I know he was at the helm and that’s exciting to me because I got tired of being in the only community where I had to go elsewhere to get my needs met.”
Janet Symonette on the other hand said Jones appealed to her the most. “He’s well versed. He’s not new to the job or new to politics. He’s true to it, and he has shown it in many ways as he represented us in the state of Florida,” she said. “He’s still willing to put himself on the line again for the people of Florida.”
Miami Gardens resident Makeisha Rothmiller, who told the Herald that issues around affordability are most important to her, said she went into the event familiar with Gilbert, but said she walked undecided.
“I’m finding out some things about Shevrin Jones, Kendrick Meek, but I really hope that no matter what, and who wins, they can all somehow come together and work for the benefit of us,” Rothmiller said.
