Wayne Messam

Wayne Martin Messam (born June 7, 1974) is an American former football wide receiver, businessman, and politician serving as the mayor of Miramar, Florida, a position he has held since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected to the Miramar City Commission in 2011 before defeating incumbent mayor Lori Cohen Moseley in the 2015 election. Messam is also a general contractor and owner of a construction firm.

Messam ran for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2020 United States presidential election. He officially launched his campaign on March 28, 2019. He suspended his presidential campaign on November 20, 2019, having failed to qualify for any of the Democratic debates.

Early life, education, and football Messam was born in South Bay, Florida to Delsey and Hubert, who had both emigrated from Jamaica.

After graduating from Glades Central High School in Belle Glade, Florida, Messam attended Florida State University, where he played as a wide receiver for the Florida State Seminoles from 1993 through 1996. He was a member of the 1993 national championship team Messam was also a member of the Florida State Seminoles track and field team and competed at the 1993 Atlantic Coast Conference indoor championships in the 55 meter hurdles. He graduated from Florida State in 1997 with a bachelor's degree in Management Information Systems. and was released on August 4 of that year.

Career Messam started a construction company in 2007. He was first elected to the City Commission of Miramar, Florida in 2011, and was elected as the city's mayor in 2015, defeating incumbent Lori Cohen Moseley and former vice mayor Alexandra Davis with 38.5% of the vote after vacating his commission seat. He won re-election on March 12, 2019.

Messam serves as president of the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials.

2020 presidential campaign In early 2019, some sources indicated that he was considering a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, which he neither confirmed nor denied, stating that "all options will remain on the table." On March 13, 2019, he announced the formation of an exploratory committee for a potential run and formally announced his candidacy nine days later. On June 28, he told Fortune Magazine that lack of money had kept his campaign from receiving national attention.

Messam's third quarter fundraising report initially declared that he had received only $5 in income, and had spent $0. Messam claimed that the low amounts were attributable to a "computer glitch." Messam later corrected these amounts to state that he had received $15,312 in income and spent $10,678 during the third quarter. His year-end quarterly reports showed that between the beginning of the fourth quarter and the end of his campaign, Messam received no money in contributions.

Messam suspended his presidential campaign on November 20, 2019.

Electoral history

All of the elections below were non-partisan.