Mayor of Miramar, Florida, Wayne Messam announces presidential bid.
Brynn Anderson / APMIRAMAR, Fla. — Unless you are a Florida State University football fan, chances are you have never heard of the newest Democratic candidate for president -- but Wayne Messam is hoping to quickly change that.
The 44-year-old construction company owner also knows why pundits say he won't win: low name recognition and funding; no sitting mayor has ever won the presidency; his lack of political experience and more.Why does he have to be governor or a senator first? Trump wasn't. "When people get elected into Washington with no local government experience, they are so high in the stratosphere that they have no concept, no consciousness of some of the local challenges that cities and communities face. And America is basically a network of cities and communities," Messam said.
"China just released a manifesto, a 50-year plan about their dominance and how the world is going to need China's exceptionalism and greatness and leadership. Where is our plan?" Messam said this week while cruising Miramar in his Cadillac Escalade. Messam grew up in South Bay, an agricultural town of 3,500 adjoining Lake Okeechobee. His parents emigrated from Jamaica -- his father cut sugar cane before becoming a farm mechanic. His mother was a cook and housekeeper. He starred at Glades Central High, a football powerhouse, before coach Bobby Bowden recruited him to Florida State.
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