Miramar, Fla. – Miramar Mayor Wayne Messam, the city’s first African American mayor who is seeking a third term in political office, drew a challenger before the qualifying period ended.

Rudy Theophin, a financial executive with OneBox Funding, is challenging Messam, who was a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, on election day on March 14.

Messam, 48, who won his last election in 2019 with 86 percent of the vote, has been mayor since 2015 and previously served on the City Commission for four years.

According to the 2020 Census, Miramar, located in the southern portion of Broward County, has a population of 134,721 residents. About 42 percent is African American, 41 percent Hispanic and 9 percent White.

Since the 2000s some of the biggest corporations in the United States have moved offices to Miramar, strengthening the city’s economy, including Comcast, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Spirits Airlines, Carnival and Quest Diagnostics.

Messam has been credited for the corporations picking Miramar, but Theophin said neighborhood issues need to be tackled.

“I’m a big fan of the David and Goliath story,” Theophin said in a statement, noting he believes his priorities – more infrastructure for the city’s historical district and more dialogue between city police and the community – will resonate with voters.

According to Linked in, Theophin is a business developer, published author, local activist and political strategists who partners with executives and entrepreneurs to maximize client profitability.

After a decade in finance and government consulting, he created his own company providing corporate training services in the area of marketing, surveying and sales strategies, and pathways for business startups in lower income communities.

Theophin is chairman and cofounder of Family of Excellence Community Alliance, which operates in South Florida to empower underprivileged families through financial literacy and social services.

Messam, a former Florida State University football standout who won a national championship with the Seminoles, said the city has a lot more work to do.

Messam, a general contractor for Messam Construction, has lived in the city for the past 18 years. He was born to Jamaican immigrants and his father worked in the sugar cane fields as a migrant contract worker.

Messam’s bid to get on the 2020 Democratic presidential ticket was suspended nine months after he announced it, as he failed to qualify for any of the Democratic debates. He serves as president of the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials.

No one qualified to oppose Alexandra Davis, who was re-elected to Commission’s Seat 4. Davis unseated incumbent Darline Riggs in 2019.