Will Caribbean Born Candidates Prevail In Today’s Florida Primary?

By NAN Staff Writer, NewsAmericas Now

News Americas, Fort Lauderdale, FL, Tues. Aug. 18, 2026: Several Caribbean-born candidates are hoping to make history in the Florida Primary election today as voting got underway early this morning.

A historic race to succeed Congresswoman Frederica Wilson

Two Haitian-born immigrants are among a crowded field of candidates seeking to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson in Florida’s 24th Congressional District, setting up a race that could make history for one of the nation’s largest Haitian-American communities.

Former Miami-Dade County Commissioner Jean Monestime and physician Dr. Rudolph Moise are both seeking the Democratic nomination, hoping to become the first Haitians elected to represent the district in Congress. Wilson, who has represented the heavily Democratic Miami Gardens-based district since 2011, announced earlier this year that she would not seek another term, triggering a crowded primary.

Monestime, born in Haiti, arrived in the United States alone at age 17 without speaking English. He later earned finance and business degrees from Florida International University and Nova Southeastern University before becoming the first Haitian American elected to the Miami-Dade County Commission, and later its first Haitian-born chairman, championing infrastructure improvements and neighborhood revitalization across North Miami-Dade during his 12 years on the commission.

Moise, a physician, attorney, and entrepreneur born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, is making his third bid for the seat after previously challenging Wilson. After immigrating to the U.S. as a teenager, he served in the U.S. Air Force before earning degrees from the University of Illinois Chicago and the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine. In Miami, he built a medical practice serving many Haitian refugees and later founded the city’s first full-time Creole-language radio station, Radio Carnivale.

The Democratic primary field also includes former State Senator Shevrin Jones, Miami-Dade Commissioner Oliver Gilbert III, who has Wilson’s endorsement, Kendrick Meek Jr., attorney Roderick Vereen, and Marshall Davis Sr., longtime director of the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center in Liberty City. Republicans Te Mayonna Brown and Andy Daro are also on the ballot.

Jamaican candidates eye Congress and the courts

Caribbean candidates across Florida are making history in Tuesday’s primary, from Jamaican Dale Holness to a historic Haitian congressional race to a mother continuing her daughter’s legacy.

Elsewhere on Tuesday’s ballot, Jamaica-born Dale Holness is making his third attempt to win Florida’s Congressional District 20, having lost a 2020 special election by just five votes. A win would make him the first Jamaica-born member of the U.S. Congress. He faces a crowded field, including redistricted incumbent Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Haitian American former Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who represented the district from 2022 until her resignation in April 2026 under a federal indictment; Luther Campbell and Elijah Manley. Holness said he’s raised more than $200,000 toward a $1 million goal, building his campaign around affordability, citing that 13% of Floridians currently live in poverty.

Kaysia Earley, who has Jamaican roots, is running in Congressional District 22, campaigning on what she calls “Faith. Family. Future.” A trial attorney and founder of Seeds of Manna, Earley is a first-time congressional candidate after a previous unsuccessful run for a judgeship.

On the Republican side, Jamaican Carla Spaulding is competing in a four-way primary for District 20.

Elsewhere on the ballot, Jamaicans Tamar Hamilton and Veronica Walker are also both running for judgeships.

Jamaican, Haitian Roots In Gubernatorial Race

In the Republican Primary Byron Donalds, the Jamaican-roots current U.S. Representative, serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability and House Financial Services Committee is in the race to replace Gov. Ron DeSantis who is term-limited as is Cuban American attorney Rachel Rodriguez who has worked for the Vires Law Group PLLC in West Palm Beach since 2022 and also founded Paragon Law Group, PLLC in March 2025.

While in the Democratic Primary the seat, Dotie Joseph a Haitian-born attorney and term-limited state representative from North Miami, is among the candidates on the ticket.

A daughter’s legacy, continued

In Coral Springs, Florida, Marly Metayer, a longtime registered nurse and Haitian immigrant, is running for the City Commission seat left vacant after the tragic death of her daughter, Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer Bowen, earlier this year. City leaders opted to let voters choose a successor rather than appoint one to finish Metayer Bowen’s term. Metayer Bowen was allegedly murdered by her Jamaican-born husband in April.

If elected, Metayer would follow directly in her daughter’s footsteps. Metayer Bowen made history in 2020 as the first Black and Haitian American woman elected to the Coral Springs City Commission, winning re-election unopposed in 2024 and becoming vice mayor in 2025. She also served as Florida’s Caribbean Vote Director for Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign before she was fatally shot in April in what authorities described as a domestic violence incident. Her husband, Stephen Bowen, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and remains in custody awaiting trial.

“She really felt like she wanted to continue the work that Nancy was doing,” said campaign manager David Metellus, who also managed Metayer Bowen’s campaigns. “She taught her kids to never leave a job undone.”

Born in Haiti, Marly Metayer immigrated to the U.S. at age 13, graduated from Dillard High School, and has worked as a registered nurse for more than 35 years. A Coral Springs resident since 1999, she hopes to build on her daughter’s focus on environmental justice, public safety and economic opportunity, with added emphasis on mental and behavioral health, following what her family has called an extraordinarily difficult year: she lost her youngest son, Donovan, to suicide in late 2025, just months before Nancy’s death. Other qualified candidates for the seat include William “Bill” Capplis, Adeline Darius, Erick Nyatenya and Terry Williams Edden.

What voters need to know

Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd is urging residents to participate, reminding voters that polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time on Tuesday. “I encourage all Florida voters to exercise their right to vote,” Byrd said.

Voters must present a current, valid photo ID to vote, and those in line by 7 p.m. will still be permitted to cast a ballot. Preliminary unofficial results will begin posting on the Florida Election Watch website after 8 p.m. Eastern time.

NewsAmericasNow will continue tracking Caribbean candidates across Florida’s primary and general elections.