Miami Mayor Francis Suarez filed paperwork Wednesday to run for president, joining the crowded pool of Republicans vying for the White House in 2024.
Suarez is set to give a speech on Thursday in California, during which he is expected to formally announce his candidacy.
In May, Suarez said that he was “strongly considering” running for president. The mayor is expected to have an uphill 2024 campaign, going up in the primary against, among others, two Republican giants and fellow Floridians: Gov. Ron DeSantis and indicted former President Donald Trump.
Suarez, the son of Miami’s first Cuban American mayor, was elected twice for the same office. His entrance into the presidential race makes him the first Hispanic candidate seeking the nomination for either party this cycle.
On Wednesday, a super PAC supporting Suarez released a two-minute video saying that when it comes to addressing crime, “conservative Mayor Francis Suarez chose a better path for Miami” compared to Democratic mayors in major cities. The video, created by SOS America, features far-right former Fox News host Tucker Carlson praising Suarez for what he said were decreasing crime rates in Miami.
The mayor has distanced himself from both Trump and DeSantis. Suarez claims he voted for then-Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum in 2018 before eventually supporting DeSantis in 2022. But last month, Suarez said that the governor’s feud with Disney over Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law appears to be a “personal vendetta” by DeSantis that has potentially cost the state thousands of jobs.
The mayor has previously said that he did not vote for Trump in both the 2016 and 2020 elections. Suarez faced heat from Trump supporters on Tuesday while appearing outside the Miami courthouse, where the former president pleaded not guilty to 37 federal counts related to his possession of classified documents after leaving the White House.
“We’ve got a ‘deep state’ corrupt mayor!” a Trump supporter yelled at Suarez as the mayor approached the courthouse. “We’ve got a deep state swamp monster! We’ve got a swamp monster, folks! We’ve got a big swamp monster! Swamp’s getting rounded up, baby! Time’s coming, baby! The swamp’s getting taken down, and you’re getting taken down, brother.”