Former White House intern to challenge Emily Slosberg for state legislature

Article Courtesy of The Sun Sentinel

By Austen Erblat    

Published December 16, 2019

 

A 21-year-old Republican college student, environmentalist, immigrant and former intern in the White House has launched a bid to unseat incumbent state legislator Emily Slosberg (D-Boca Raton).
 

Sayd Hussain, an engineering major at Florida Atlantic University, filed campaign paperwork in hopes of taking control of Florida State House District 91, which includes West Boca Raton, and western Delray Beach and Boynton Beach, in the 2020 election. Hussain said he is campaigning on a platform primarily centered around homeowners association reforms, fighting elder abuse and pushing for stronger environmental protections.

He calls himself a moderate Republican.

“My main campaign focuses are reforming the HOA and condo associations in the state of Florida so that we can bring rights back to the homeowners so that people can feel comfortable in the homes that they live in,” he said.

“I do believe elder bullying is a real issue. It was covered by the press for a reason, so it has to be a pressing matter. I believe elderly people should also feel comfortable where they live. They shouldn’t have to be harassed by anyone in their own community. Lastly, is environmental issues — conserving our environment and tying that into infrastructure, making sure Florida has great roads, bridges and things like that. Especially in South Florida.”

According to state census data, District 91 has just over 150,000 people — about 83% of which are white, about 6% black, about 8% Hispanic and just over 2% other — and the median age is about 63.

Sayd Hussain, 21, Boca Raton, has launched a bid for Florida State House District 91, which includes portions west of Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Boynton Beach, in the 2020 election.


Hussain said he wants to avoid issues that divide people and focus on those upon which people across the political spectrum can agree.

“I shouldn’t have to force people to care about my issues, I want to just attack the issues that everyone cares about but might not be telling politicians,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a Republican or a Democrat. I’m avoiding issues that are extremely partisan. And even if I’m asked that, I go right in the middle. At the end of the day, this is a Democratic district and the only way for a Republican to win is to not go hardline on their party. You have to talk about things that nobody talks about.”

Despite his sense that his campaign issues and positions are popular, Hussain is aware of the challenges he will face, having already gotten a taste of them early on in his campaign. They include his age, his name and other hurdles he thinks he will need to clear between now and the 2020 election.

“Just being a 21-year-old running, that’s just a challenge by itself,” he said.

“I have all the cards against me; I’m a person of color, I don’t come from a political background — my family, they lived the American dream but not the political American dream — I’m a 21-year-old student at FAU, I don’t have that much name recognition, I don’t have that much money. So why am I running? Well, I was recruited by the Republican party and they see potential in me to actually win this race.”

Hussain said his resume — which includes internships in the White House and the Guyanese embassy in 2018 as well as being a member of the Sustainability Advisory Board for the city of Boca Raton — shows a history of work in public service.

“When I have gone door-knocking over the past few weekends — I knocked on over 100 doors — people don’t even know who their state rep is,” he said.

“They get confused with [Congressman] Ted Deutch or [Congresswoman] Lois Frankel, so what I’ve been able to do is I’ve been able to educate everybody that I’ve met. I make sure I keep saying, ‘I’m a State House candidate,’ because some people think I’m running for [U.S.] Congress… We handle taxes, we handle the most direct influence upon your life, and because of that education, I’m the only name they’re going to remember.”

The great-grandson of an indentured servant, the son of immigrants and an immigrant himself, Hussain said his family is important to him, citing them as an inspiration for his decision to run for office.

“My great grandfather was an indentured servant from India, taken by the British to work on a sugarcane plantation, so essentially, he was a slave from India,” he said.

“My grandfather decided he wanted to be educated and become a chemist, but he still ended up in a sugar plantation because that’s where the market was… Then he raised my mom to value education and that’s the key for us to get to the next level and through that — I immigrated here when I was 1 1/2 [years old]… My mom used to work graveyard shifts at a hotel on Hollywood Beach while raising me during the day and my dad used to wash cars for $5 an hour, but they were able to educate themselves… I’ve been able to learn from my mom and my dad, if you really want something such as running for office, if you work hard for it, you will get it.”


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