Miami Mayor Francis Suarez jumps into GOP presidential race

MIAMI — Francis Xavier Suarez, the mayor of Miami, officially filed papers on Wednesday to seek the Republican nomination for president.

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Suarez, 45, currently serving his second term in Florida’s second-largest city, becomes the third candidate from the Sunshine State to enter the crowded GOP race. He joins former President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis.

He is expected to announce his candidacy on Thursday at the Ronald Reagan Library in California, the Miami Herald reported. The conservative Republican filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday, according to the newspaper.

Suarez is the son of the city’s first Cuban-born mayor, according to Politico. Miami has about 450,000 people within Miami-Dade County, a region with a population of 2.5 million. He was first elected as Miami’s mayor in 2017 with 86% of the vote, according to The New York Times. He was re-elected in 2021 wit h79% of the vote, according to the newspaper.

However, Suarez’s national profile is limited and he is facing allegations of influence-peddling on behalf of a real estate company, the Times reported. The Herald reported that Suarez was paid $10,000 a month as a consultant for developer Rishi Kapoor while the mayor’s office assisted Kapoor in resolving permitting issues with the city.

Suarez has denied any wrongdoing, according to the newspaper.

Suarez’s father, Xavier L. Suarez, was elected as Miami’s mayor in 1985 and re-elected in 1987 and 1989, according to the newspaper. The elder Suarez was later elected to the Miami-Dade County Commission.

Francis Suarez, a married father, was one of the first elected officials to contract the COVID-19 virus during the early weeks of the pandemic, the Herald reported. He is attempting to become the first sitting mayor elected as president, WPLG reported.

The GOP field for president also includes former Vice President Mike Pence, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Vivek Ramaswamy and Larry Elder.