21-year-old with Jamaican heritage hunts Florida senate seat

Steven Meza
Steven Meza

(Jamaica Gleaner) Meet the 21-year old seeking to become a Florida state senator.

He is Steven Meza, a second-generation American born to a Jamaican mother and a Peruvian father.

Should Meza win the Florida State Senate District 33 seat, he would become the second youngest state senator in the history of Florida.

District 33 encompasses a large area of Boward County, Pompano Beach, Tamarac, Lauderdale Lakes, Oakland Park, Margate, and Lauderhill. It is one of the most diverse communities in Florida, home to many immigrants, including a large number of Jamaicans.

Currently a student at Florida Atlantic University, where he is studying philosophy, Meza pledges to bring bold, new, and progressive leadership to the Florida legislature.

“I have experienced every part of Florida, and the parts that make our state unique need a new voice of leadership to fight for our environment, our schools, and address the real concerns of not only the state, but also our people,” he said on his website.

“I want better for our people, our state, and our communities, and that is why I plan on doing better than our past leaders on the fight for a vision of a greater tomorrow,” he said.

Among other policy positions, Meza supports background checks for gun buyers and the full legalisation of marijuana.

Meza has made the ballot and will contest the Democratic Party’s primary on August 18.

Senator Perry Thurston is the current incumbent in State Senate District 33.