MIRAMAR, Fla. — Candidates running in the Democratic primary election for Florida’s 24th Congressional District, which U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson has represented for about 13 years, met on Saturday in Miramar.
Miramar Mayor Wayne Messam hosted the candidate forum, and Local 10 News Anchor Calvin Hughes was the moderator at the City Hall’s Commission Chambers at 2300 Civic Center Place.
About the candidates
OLIVER G. GILBERT III
Wilson, 83, endorsed Oliver G. Gilbert II, a Miami-Dade commissioner and former commission chair who served as the mayor of Miami Gardens from 2012 to 2020.
Gilbert, 53, who grew up in Miami Gardens, earned a bachelor’s degree from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University and a juris doctor from the University of Miami.
SHEVRIN JONES
Florida Sen. Shevrin “Shev” Jones served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2012 to 2020, when he started his service in the Florida Senate.
Jones, 42, who was born in Hollywood and grew up in Miami Gardens, earned a bachelor’s degree from Florida A&M University. He also earned master’s and doctorate degrees in education from Florida Atlantic University.
KENDRICK MEEK JR.
Kendrick Meek Jr. is following in the footsteps of his father, former U.S. Rep. Kendrick B. Meek, who served Florida’s 17th Congressional District from 2003 to 2011, and his grandmother, the late former U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek, who served Florida’s 17th Congressional District from 1993 to 2003.
Meek, 29, earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida and a J.D. from the University of Miami. He interned with the House Administration Committee in 2015 and the House Judiciary Committee in 2021. He also worked as a White House aide on healthcare policy initiatives under the Biden administration.
RUDOLPH MOISE
Retired U.S. Air Force Reserve Col. Dr. Rudolph “Rudy” Moise, a Haitian-American physician, served as ambassador-at-large for investment for the Republic of Haiti in 2014.
Moise, 71, was born in Port-au-Prince, and he was 17 when he moved to Chicago. After graduating from the University of Illinois, he earned a doctorate in osteopathy from the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine. He also earned a juris doctor and a master of business administration from the University of Miami.
JEAN MONESTIME
Jean Monestime served as a Miami-Dade County commissioner from 2010 to 2022, including as chairman from 2014 to 2016.
Monestime, 63, was born in Haiti’s Saint-Louis du Nord, and he was 17 when he moved to the U.S. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Florida International University and a master of business administration from Nova Southeastern University.
RODERICK D. VEREEN
Roderick “Rod” Vereen, a criminal defense attorney, served as an assistant federal public defender for the Northern District of Florida in Pensacola and as assistant state attorney for the Second Judicial Circuit.
Vereen, 64, grew up as a U.S. Army brat, and he earned a bachelor’s degree from Florida State University and a juris doctor from the Southern University Law Center.
MARSHAL L DAVIS SR.
Marshal L. Davis, Sr., serves as the director of the Marshal L. Davis, Sr. African Heritage Cultural Arts Center in Miami’s Liberty City. It’s since 1963.
“We’ve got to look at what we consider to be the problem because with any problem, there is a solution,” Davis, 76, said. “We have to look at our potential and be expansive, and we’ve got to govern ourselves by principles.”
The mail-in ballot request deadline was Aug. 6. Early voting started on Aug. 8. The Democratic primary is on Aug. 18, and the general election is Nov. 3.
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