Global Courant
Miami Mayor Francis Saurez joins a crowded field of Republican candidates dominated by former President Donald Trump.
Francis Suarez, the mayor of Miami, Florida, is the latest Republican to bid for the 2024 U.S. presidential race.
The son of a prominent Cuban-American politician and a rising Republican star in his own right, Suarez filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission on Wednesday to formalize his campaign, according to US media reports.
Suarez’s participation in the race makes him the third major Florida political figure to announce their candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination. Two current Republican frontrunners are based in the state: former President Donald Trump and his closest rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
However, the 45-year-old mayor would be the only major Spanish candidate to make a bid so far. Florida has long been a prized swing state — though recent trends indicate it is leaning further to the right — and its large Cuban-American population has been an influential Republican base for decades.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez briefed the press this week on security arrangements for former President Donald Trump’s appearance in federal court (File: Wilfredo Lee/AP Photo)
But Suarez has an uphill battle to unseat Trump at the head of the Republican field. On Tuesday, as Trump faced federal charges in a classified documents case, Suarez appeared outside the court in Miami where the proceedings were set, only to be confronted by angry protesters calling him a “swamp monster” or a ” RINO” – an abbreviation for “Republican in name only”.
Suarez has publicly distanced himself from both Trump and DeSantis, positioning himself as a more centrist Republican voice.
When Trump discredited the Caribbean country of Haiti as a “sh**hole”, Suarez went to Twitter to “strongly condemn the discriminatory comments”, citing his family roots in the immigrant community.
Suarez also told US media that he did not vote for Trump’s 2020 re-election bid. Explaining his decision to the publication Politico, Suarez said: “A politician has to — I don’t want to say perfect, but they have to be someone who is civil, who treats people with respect, who inspires people, who has those characteristics.”
Suarez was also openly skeptical of DeSantis’ early gubernatorial bid and chose to vote for his Democratic rival Andrew Gillum in the 2018 race. But by 2022, with DeSantis making a second successful run for the governor’s mansion, Suarez had turned his support to the Republican.
Yet Suarez has remained a critical voice. In May, he denounced DeSantis’ ongoing feud with the Disney entertainment company, calling it a “personal vendetta” on the NewsNation show, The Hill.
Suarez himself has come under fire in recent months as he is accused of abusing his position to help a real estate developer, Location Ventures, obtain permits for a condominium project.
While the mayor of Miami is permitted to hold paid positions outside of office, it is barred from holding the position to “obtain special privileges or exemptions.” A local newspaper, the Miami Herald, reported this month that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has launched an investigation.
First elected mayor of Miami in 2017, Suarez has long been weighing a long-running presidential bid, with reports coming as early as 2021, the same year as his re-election.
His father, Xavier Suarez, was Miami’s first Cuban-born mayor, initially elected in 1985. And during his own tenure as mayor, the younger Suarez positioned Miami as the next major U.S. technology hub, trying to pull talent away from traditional bases of innovation. like California’s Silicon Valley during the height of the coronavirus pandemic
“We want to be part of the next wave of innovation,” Suarez told the New York Times’ DealBook publication in 2021. He announced on Twitter that he would accept salary payment in the cryptocurrency Bitcoin – although other digital currencies he publicly supported, such as MiamiCoin, have fallen in value or have since been embroiled in scandal.
