Wayne Messam currently serves as the mayor of Miramar, Fla., where he previously served on the city council. He played college football at Florida State University and founded his own contracting business.
Previous Work Around Poverty and Opportunity
- As mayor, he worked to “ban the box.”
- As mayor, he facilitated the passage of a living wage law for city employees.
On the Issues
Jobs: Stated that he will “establish an economic plan to soften the blow of coming tech advancements on working and middle-class Americans.”
Affordable Housing: Has focused on affordable housing as a priority issue as mayor; wants to reduce the minimum size of units and incentivize affordable housing construction in the city.
Health Care/Insurance: Supports universal health care.
Education: Wants to cancel all existing student loan debt. Favors giving teachers raises and better training. Supports opportunities for technical education.
Criminal Justice: Wants to stop employers from requiring employees to indicate whether they have a criminal record in their applications.
Minimum Wage: Has raised wages for city workers.
Safety Net: Has not highlighted specific priorities around his presidential campaign.
Children/Families: Has not highlighted specific priorities around his presidential campaign.
Taxes/Tax Credits: Seeks to reverse the Trump administration’s tax cuts.
News Articles
“Why Wayne Messam Wants to Go From Florida Mayor to POTUS” (CityLab: 3/19/2019)
“Longshot 2020 presidential candidate has a radical plan to solve the student loan crisis” (Yahoo Finance: 4/13/2019)
“Wayne Messam: Everything you need to know about the 2020 candidate” (Axios: 3/30/2019)