Who is Democratic presidential candidate Wayne Messam?
Miramar Mayor Wayne Messam is a long-shot candidate.
Barely known even in his home state, where he did not qualify to take the stage for the Democratic presidential debates in Miami, the mayor is still holding events and fundraising with hopes of continuing on in the race toward 2020.
Messam is the son of Jamaican immigrants, who came to South Florida and worked in the sugar cane fields. He grew up in western Palm Beach County and graduated from Belle Glade Glades Central High School, where he was senior class president. He went on to play football at Florida State University, where he was a starting wide receiver on the 1993 national championship team.
He eventually went on to own a construction company with his wife and ran for his first elected office in 2011. He won a seat on the Miramar City Commission and four years later, defeated a 16-year incumbent to became Miramar’s first black mayor. He recently won reelection.
While mayor, the 45-year-old has raised wages for municipal workers and helped residents after Hurricane Irma hit in 2017. He’s also taken progressive stances by fighting drilling in the Everglades, touting Miramar as a safe space for undocumented immigrants and challenging laws backed by the National Rifle Association.
Though his time as mayor has been mainly positive and his presence as a candidate little-known, his campaign is not without controversy.
Barely a month into his bid, Messam faced allegations that campaign employees were bailing because his wife “consolidated” the campaign’s finances and wouldn’t cut checks.
Federal campaign fillings show that his wife was a registered agent on his Wayne Messam For America campaign account until April, and that Messam struggled to raise money at first.
He initially reported raising $83,000 during the first two-plus weeks of his campaign, although he later amended his report to clarify that he’d raised just $43,000.
About Wayne Messam
▪ Current or most recent position: Mayor of Miramar since 2015.
▪ Other elected offices: Miramar city commissioner 2011-15.
▪ Occupation: Messam and his wife, Angela, own a construction company that specializes in energy-efficient projects.
▪ Education: Florida State University.
▪ Age: 45
▪ Residence: Miramar
▪ Family: Wife Angela, twin daughters and a son.
▪ Campaign website: wayneforusa.com
▪ Small donors: Messam has four small donors (under $200). They include a Land O’ Lakes college professor, an unemployed Arizona resident and two anonymous donations from Democratic fundraising organization ActBlue.
▪ Big donors: As of March 31, top Messam donors were largely from Florida, and include Oakland Raiders scout Zachary Crockett of Miami Shores, a Pembroke Pines athletic trainer named John St. Clair, Miramar pastor Wayne Lomax and Dwight Moxie, chief counsel at a California biotechnology company.
▪ Fun fact: Messam was a starting wide receiver on Florida State’s 1993 national championship football team.
▪ On the issues: Messam’s website outlines a wide range of progressive stances and possible solutions, including student debt forgiveness, abolishing the electoral college and cutting the number of gun deaths in half during his first term.
Sources of biographical information: Wayne Messam campaign, South Florida Sun-Sentinel