Francis Suarez, Miami’s Republican mayor, files to run for president in GOP primary

Francis Suarez, Miami’s second-term mayor, has filed papers to run in the Republican presidential primary, casting himself as a conservative problem solver while he faces an FBI probe over payments from a developer seeking help from the city.

Suarez, a 45-year-old attorney and private-equity executive, is the first Hispanic to enter a crowded GOP field. He is expected to announce his candidacy Thursday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, but papers filed with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday show he’s officially a candidate for president.

The married father of two first came to national prominence in 2020 when he was one of the first elected officials to contract COVID-19 in the early weeks of the pandemic and documented his time in isolation with the virus. He later became known for his connections to tech moguls as he pitched Miami as a more appealing alternative to Silicon Valley.

In recent weeks, he’s faced questions about his outside employment after the Miami Herald reported he was paid $10,000 a month as a consultant for developer Rishi Kapoor while Suarez’s office assisted Kapoor in resolving permitting issues with the city. The FBI recently opened a probe into the allegations, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Read more: Super PAC backing Miami Mayor Francis Suarez launches ads as 2024 announcement looms

Suarez has denied any wrongdoing, saying his work with Kapoor was related to development matters outside of Miami and that his office routinely assists developers seeking help with red tape. While the political leader of Miami, Suarez has no administrative power within Miami government, which is run by a city manager.

Reactions range from harsh to hopeful

Wednesday afternoon, news of Suarez’s candidacy quickly rippled through social media and sparked news alerts on cable news networks. The mayor was generally described as an underdog in a GOP field led by former President Donald Trump.

On Fox News, U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez told host Neil Cavuto that he “will never support Francis Suarez.” The congressman, a former Miami-Dade County mayor who’s sparred with Suarez in the past, called the mayor “a complete fraud” because Suarez has voted for Democratic candidates. The mayor voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Andrew Gillum in Florida’s 2018 gubernatorial race, fueling criticism from Florida Republicans ever since.

“In what universe will a person who has voted that way in the past get the Republican nomination?” said Gimenez, who also said he would vote for Clinton in 2016.

In Miami, the famously affable mayor has cemented a base of support that includes lifelong political allies and members of the tech community he’s helped to promote in South Florida.

“I think he is confident. I think he is committed and still humble,” said Mike Llorente, a longtime friend and Miami-area lobbyist and attorney. “I think he has a tremendous amount of energy. I think he has a tremendous amount of authenticity.”

The Democratic National Committee blasted Suarez in a statement.

“Francis Suarez is yet another contender in the race for the MAGA base who has supported key pieces of Donald Trump’s agenda,” said DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison. “As mayor of Miami, Suarez has repeatedly used his position to benefit himself, prioritizing pay raises for himself, accepting lavish gifts and taking shady payments — all while ignoring the biggest challenges facing the people he was elected to serve.”

Super PAC launches ad

The candidacy papers follow the soft launch of Suarez’s presidential campaign by a friendly political committee.

On Wednesday, SOS America PAC released a two-minute ad painting Suarez as a law-and-order politician who strongly supports policing and positions Suarez as a better choice than President Joe Biden. The PAC is running the ads in New Hampshire, Iowa and Nevada, according to a press release.

“America needs conservative Mayor Francis Suarez for president,” said Chapin Fay, the PAC’s spokesperson, in a statement. “As our nation faces anti-police and pro-crime Democrat leadership in cities across the nation like Baltimore, Portland and New York City, the achievements of first-generation American Mayor Suarez underscore the need for immediate nationwide adoption of his approach.”

Read more: Miami official rejected plans by a developer paying Suarez. Then the mayor’s aide called

Suarez’s campaign slogan appears to be: “It’s Time We Get Started.” That’s the phrase for the Suarez for President campaign website now online, with links to the mayor’s political social media accounts. Last week, Suarez for President filed incorporation papers in Florida and said the entity’s corporate name would be It’s Time We Get Started, Inc.

On Wednesday, Elliot Berke, a Washington, D.C., lawyer specializing in campaign law, posted a statement on Twitter that he was representing Suarez’s presidential campaign, adding: “It’s time we got started.”

Path to primary run

Suarez spent more than a decade as a city commissioner and mayor in a City Hall known for turmoil that continues to weigh down Miami’s municipal government. The mayor, first elected in 2018, initially wanted to take control of the city’s day-to-day operations by becoming a “strong mayor.” Voters rejected his pitch.

The mayor’s political trajectory turned in 2020. Political onlookers say the attention he drew when he was sick with COVID snowballed after he tweeted “How can I help?” in response to the suggestion Silicon Valley could move to Miami.

The Gen X mayor, the first to be born in Miami, increasingly turned his attention to promoting the Magic City, and himself.

“It was a confluence of a few things, including his national popularity from his handling of the pandemic and being a role model for how to deal with it when he got sick,” said Neisen Kasdin, a longtime Suarez supporter and Miami land-use attorney. “Then, obviously, being the leading salesperson for Miami was a brilliant thing to do.”

He hosted billionaires, politicians, athletes and other celebrities on a YouTube talk show called “Cafecito Talk,” which was filmed in his second-floor city office on Dinner Key. Riding a wave of favorable press from national outlets and crypto media, the mayor started to openly mull a run for president more than a year ago while serving as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. His national profile grew through his promotion of Miami as a tech and cryptocurrency capital, even as the value of Bitcoin and other tokens has wildly fluctuated.

Suarez’s popularity with city voters didn’t wane even as the electorate in Greater Miami turned from solidly blue to leaning red. In 2021, Suarez cruised to a second term with almost 80% of the vote in a heavily Democratic city that Joe Biden won by 19 points the year before. Like most local positions in Miami-Dade, Miami’s mayor is a non-partisan post, and all candidates compete on the same ballot. Suarez’s re-election was fueled by millions raised from donors in the tech and private-equity sectors.

Despite the publicity and prolific fundraising in local races, Suarez is still entering his first partisan race, and he’s going up against two other Florida GOP heavyweights: Trump and, trailing double digits behind in the polls, Gov. Ron DeSantis. In national polling, Suarez often isn’t mentioned. In an April Fox News poll, his results were listed as an asterisk — a symbol for polling less than half of 1 percent.

He’s had a rocky relationship with DeSantis since declaring he was voting for DeSantis’ opponent in his first race and then opposing him on how best to respond to the pandemic.

Recent troubles

Suarez, an attorney at litigation firm Quinn Emanuel and executive at private equity company DaGrosa Capital Partners, has for years declined to disclose his client list. Recent revelations about his private business have raised legal and ethical questions about a consulting contract with Kapoor, which was revealed when a former executive from Kapoor’s real estate company filed a lawsuit that outlined a host of alleged financial improprieties.

The FBI, Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office and Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics and Public Trust are investigating Suarez’s work for Kapoor. Suarez was paid $170,000 in the last two years by a company run by Kapoor, CEO of real estate firm Location Ventures, and internal company documents indicate Suarez was asked to help push along permits for Kapoor’s URBIN project in the center of the Coconut Grove business district. The Securities and Exchange Commission is also investigating Location Ventures’ business practices.