Miami Mayor Francis Suarez Joins 2024 GOP Presidential Nomination Race

Author: Editors Desk Source: WSJ:

June 14, 2023 at 21:41

Francis Suarez is the first Miami-born mayor of his city. PHOTO: JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGES

Candidate set to speak Thursday evening at Reagan Presidential Library in California

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, one of America’s few Republican big-city mayors, on Wednesday entered the crowded race for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.

Suarez filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission indicating his plans to run ahead of a speech Thursday evening at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California.

There will now be three Florida residents in the GOP contest. The two others, former President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis, are the leading contenders in national polls.

The mayor’s entry makes him the only Latino so far in a field of Republican candidates, now double-digit in size, that is believed to be mostly formed.

Suarez, 45 years old and the first Miami-born mayor of his city, had pondered a presidential run for months and made visits earlier this year to the four states—Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada—that will host the initial caucuses and primaries early next year.

He isn’t well-known nationally and will face a challenge to build name recognition in a field with much better-known candidates.

The latest entry into the GOP primary contest follows three made last week by former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Vice President Mike Pence and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.

Suarez, in his second term, is the son of former Miami Mayor Xavier Suarez. The younger Suarez is a former president of the bipartisan U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Under his tenure, his city has become a growing tech and financial hub. Last year, billionaire Ken Griffin moved his hedge-fund firm Citadel from Chicago to Miami.

As mayor, Suarez has pursued an agenda that has been pro-business, pro-technology, in favor of lower taxes and less regulation, and tough on crime.

His city is also home to the federal courthouse where Trump was arraigned Tuesday on charges that he illegally retained and shared classified national-security documents after leaving the White House.

Suarez has said he didn’t vote for Trump in the 2016 or 2020 general elections, instead writing in the names of GOP Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida the first time and then-Vice President Mike Pence the second time. If Trump were to become the 2024 nominee, Suarez has said he would vote for him over President Biden.

The mayor’s White House bid comes as he faces multiple investigations into his private consulting work for a real-estate developer who sought City Hall approvals, according to the Miami Herald. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office and Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust have launched inquiries, the newspaper has reported.

Suarez has denied wrongdoing and maintained he was paid to give advice about the mix of stores and restaurants in the real-estate company’s projects and help raise capital. He’s also said he welcomes the scrutiny. A spokeswoman for the mayor declined to comment further.