Kendrick Meek Jr. running for U.S. House seat his father, grandmother once held
Attorney Kendrick Meek Jr. filed paperwork Wednesday to run for Florida’s 24th Congressional District, after Rep. Frederica Wilson announced two weeks ago that she wouldn’t seek reelection.
Meek enters with a special caché: His grandmother 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 then held the seat from 2003 until 2011.
His entrance in the race shakes up a field that already had high-profile local politicians vying to carry on Wilson’s torch.
Former Miami Gardens mayor and County Commissioner Oliver Gilbert and state Sen. Shevrin Jones held their campaign launch parties this week.
The Democratic primary, which will likely decide who represents the Miami district in Washington, is set for Aug. 18. Candidates must qualify by Friday to make the ballot.
A University of Florida graduate, Meek has twice interned in the House of Representatives, including with the House Judiciary Committee, where he contributed to research and analysis on technology, trade and public policy issues during the COVID pandemic, according to his professional biography. He also served as a legal assistant with the Human Rights Campaign and worked with the federal Office of Management and Budget.
After completing his law degree at the University of Miami, Meek went on to work as an associate attorney for LSN Law, where he specializes in land use, zoning and real estate development law.
Meek did not immediately return phone calls from the Miami Herald seeking comment on his candidacy. In a 2021 profile for UM Law, Meek touted his experience in D.C. but said his “heart has always been in South Florida.”
“I am constantly reminded of the unique challenges we face: The cost of living is higher than many of us can afford, public infrastructure isn’t keeping pace with our outsized growth, and rising sea levels continue to pose a threat to our way of life,” he said at the time. “These calls to action, I hope to answer both in furtherance and in memory of my grandmother and her groundbreaking legacy.”
Meek would have some hefty shoes to fill: His grandmother, Carrie Meek, was a fierce advocate for South Florida’s Black communities, immigrants and the working poor. Her accomplishments in Congress include sponsoring the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act, which about 50,000 Haitian immigrants benefited from, and securing $100 million in aid to rebuild Miami-Dade as it recovered from Hurricane Andrew.
READ: Carrie Meek, pioneering Miami congresswoman and champion of Black communities, dies at 95
In 2002, she was succeeded by her son, Kendrick Meek, who also had a long career in politics. He served in the Florida House and Senate, and successfully ran for his mother’s seat when she retired. Meek held the seat until 2011, giving it up to run an unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate.
This story was originally published June 10, 2026 at 5:55 PM.
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