Congressman Kendrick Meek made a simple promise to his audience of about 50 students at a Dauer Hall speech Thursday evening.
“I will not be a cookie-cutter candidate,” he said.
Meek, D-Fla., who represents Florida’s 17th Congressional District, including parts of Miami-Dade and Broward counties, in the U.S. House of Representatives, stopped in Gainesville to encourage students to volunteer in his campaign for a U.S. Senate seat.
The Senate election will be held in November.
Meek also discussed his campaign goals and said he must petition in order to be placed on the ballot.
The campaign hopes to collect 112,000 signatures by February.
“I feel this campaign movement is going to be about who has the team,” Meek said. “The bottom line is that we need to get the vote out and get the people involved.”
Meek spoke for about 45 minutes and covered topics including health care, the national debt, new energy initiatives and education.
"Now more than ever people understand how important the Senate is in this country in terms of moving forward," he said.
Pointing to his years of service in state and national politics, as well as his years as a captain for the Florida Highway Patrol, he portrayed himself as a candidate who would be forthcoming and willing to support measures based on their merit as opposed to political dividing lines.
“You want a senator who will speak the truth when it comes to these issues,” Meek said.
Students also expressed their support of Meek's campaign.
Naadira Renfroe, a UF anthropology junior, was one of many who expressed interest in interning for the Meek campaign.
Clutching a blue campaign sign, she expressed her support for Meek and his honest demeanor.
“If you listen to him, the first thing he talks about is his personal life,” she said. “I think he shares a common background with a lot of the students here. He shares my values.”
Ben Cavataro, president of the Florida College Democrats, agrees that Meek would make a good candidate for the state of Florida.
“While [Charlie] Crist and [Marco] Rubio try to see which one is more extreme, he focuses on common sense solutions for America,” he said.
“He’s a very dynamic figure.”
