Messam, the mayor of Miramar, will meet next week with Israeli officials, Knesset members, human rights NGOs, Palestinian leaders and settlers. The announcement of his trip Friday comes just two days after he announced his candidacy.
Messam, who just completed a term as president of the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials, is a long shot, but he is not the only mayor of a small town among the 15 or so contenders for the Democratic nod.
Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, is also running; according to the 2010 census, South Bend had a population of just over 100,000, while Miramar’s was about 120,000.