Miami Mayor Francis Suarez Running for President

Francis X. Suarez, the Republican mayor of Miami, filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday to run for president, Politico reported.

The 45-year-old becomes the first Hispanic candidate to jump in the race and the third from Florida seeking the Republican nomination, alongside former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Suarez was first elected mayor in 2017, garnering 85.83% of the vote after serving eight years as a member of the Miami City Commission. He was reelected in 2021 with 78.61% of the vote.

His father, Xavier Suarez, served two nonconsecutive terms leading Miami as a Democrat.

The moderate now joins Trump, DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and others in seeking the nomination.

SOS America PAC, an independent expenditure-only political action committee, is affiliated with Suarez, and said Wednesday that it would spend $100,000 on digital advertisements in New Hampshire, Iowa, and Nevada.

“As our nation faces anti-police and pro-crime Democrat leadership in cities across the nation … the achievements of first-generation American Mayor Suarez underscore the need for immediate nationwide adoption of his approach,” SOS America PAC spokesman Chapin Fay stated.

Suarez has been vocal in his independent streak, revealing that he did not vote for Trump in 2016 or 2020, or DeSantis in 2018. However, he did say that he supported DeSantis’ gubernatorial reelection bid.

Most recently, the mayor shared that he and DeSantis did not have the warmest relationship, commenting that he generally “seems to struggle” with him.

According to Politico, Suarez is expected to make his run official Thursday night at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Ventura County, California.