Francis Suarez
Francis Xavier Suarez is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 43rd mayor of Miami from 2017 to 2025. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a member of the Miami City Commission from 2009 to 2017. He is the son of former Miami mayor Xavier Suarez.
Suarez is a graduate of Florida International University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in finance. After that he earned a J.D. from the University of Florida in 2004. He was first elected to represent the 4th district in the Miami City Commission in 2009 and was reelected in 2011 and 2015. He served until 2017 when he was elected mayor of Miami. He was re-elected in 2021. During his mayoralty, Suarez has been noted for his advocacy for cryptocurrency.
Suarez was a candidate in the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries, but withdrew from the race after he failed to qualify for the first primary debate.
Early life and education
The oldest of four siblings, Suarez is the son of Rita and Xavier Suarez, two-time Miami mayor. His aunt, Lala, is the mother of U.S. Congressman Alex Mooney from West Virginia.Suarez attended Immaculata-LaSalle High School. He graduated in 1996 and went on to graduate in the top 10% of his class from Florida International University with a bachelor's degree in finance. Following college, Suarez chose to attend the University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law, receiving his J.D. degree cum laude in 2004.
Legal career and other private sector work
After law school, Suarez became an attorney with the law firm Greenspoon Marder, specializing in corporate and real estate transactions.In 2021 Suarez joined the newly established Miami office of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan. His mayoralty is a part-time job due to its limited duties and powers. On July 1, 2023, due to his ongoing presidential candidacy, Suarez went on unpaid leave from the firm.
Early political activity
Suarez's father, Xavier Suarez, served as mayor of Miami in the 1990s.Before serving in the city government, Suarez first served on his local homeowner association. Suarez cited a home burglary that he had suffered as his motivation for getting involved.
Miami city commissioner (2009–2017)
Suarez was first elected to the Miami City Commission's District 4 seat in 2009. in a special election to replace Tomás Regalado who had resigned in order to become mayor. The initial round of the election was held was on November 3, 2009. Suarez advanced to a runoff election against Manolo Reyes after receiving 44.74 percent of the vote in the initial round, with Reyes receiving 40.50 percent, Denis Rod receiving 5.15 percent and Oscar Rodriguez-Fonts receiving 9.61 percent. District 4 represented portions of the city's westernmost reaches. The runoff election was on 17 November 2009. Suarez won with 51.41 percent of the vote. He was reelected unopposed in both 2011 and 2015.In January 2013 the Miami Herald wrote that in his first three years on the City Commission "Suarez has had mixed results passing policy." Suarez introduced a controversial motion that was passed by the City Commission, resulting in a decrease to city employees salaries. He also was an advocate for changes that were made to the zoning code of the city aimed at easing the ability to construct affordable housing. However, Suarez was unsuccessful in a push to move the city from using a weak mayor form of government to adopting a strong mayor form of government.
Suarez was initially a close ally of Mayor Regaldo. In late 2011, Regaldo asked Suarez to hold the chairmanship of the City Commission. After Regaldo was at odds with Police Chief Miguel Exposito, Suarez introduced a controversial motion to fire Exposito, which was passed by the City Commission. However, in mid-2012 Suarez became critical of Regaldo's leadership, attacking high turnover among Regaldo's staff and questioning the finance department's ability to balance the city's budget on time. Suarez even came to criticize Regaldo's feud with former police chief Exposito. Suarez ultimately announced a campaign to unseat Regaldo in the 2013 mayoral election.
Suarez was an opponent of red light cameras in the city, which had become a controversial issue in Miami.
2013 mayoral campaign
Suarez was widely anticipated to challenge incumbent Miami mayor Tomás Regaldo in the November 2013 mayoral election. In anticipation of his campaign, Suarez fundraised significantly at the end of 2012, with his "political communications organization" raising $460,000. This eclipsed the $160,000 that Regaldo had raised for his reelection by the end of 2012. Contributors to Suarez included Jackson Health System CEO and former Miami city manager Carlos A. Migoya as well as former Miami mayor Manny Diaz.On January 15, 2013, Suarez officially announced his candidacy in a press conference he held outside of his personal resident in the Coral Gate neighborhood. Suarez's father attended the press conference and supported Suarez's candidacy. Suarez stated that, if elected, he would provide the city with "forward-thinking and innovative" governance. Suarez declared his campaign platform would focus on increasing the city's emergency financial reserves, helping small businesses, strengthen the city's police department, and elevating the city's national prominence. Upon the launch of Suarez's campaign, political analysts predicted a competitive election. Despite his strong fundraising and support from prominent political players, Suarez was regarded to be the underdog due to Regaldo's popularity with likely voters. Suarez being the scion of a former mayor was regarded as both a boon and a potential liability, as voter sentiments on his father's tenures as mayor varied, with his father having both a strong fan base but also carrying negative baggage with other voters. Suarez's age was seen as a likely liability to his candidacy, opening him up to accusations of inexperience. However, Suarez claimed his candidacy provided, "an opportunity for our generation to take a leadership role in the community."
For his campaign, Suarez hired experienced local political consultants, a media firm based in Washington, D.C., as well as a Virginia-based pollster. However, the primary actors in Suarez's campaign operation were relatives of his, including his cousin Steve Suarez, who served as his campaign manager.
Suarez's candidacy garnered the support of fellow Miami city commissioners Marc Sarnon, Michelle Spence-Jones, and Willy Gort.
Suarez's candidacy was rocked by controversies regarding the conduct of staffers. Two staffers became the subject of criminal investigations for forging signatures of acquaintances on absentee ballot request forms. Another staffer submitted twenty online absentee ballot requests in violation of Florida law, which dictated that online requests could only be made by the voter or a member of their immediate family. Suarez's father was accused of possibly attempting to influence a witness in the investigations when he reached out by email one of the voters for whom a ballot request had been illegally submitted. These scandals led to both this staffer and the campaign manager each pleading guilty to misdemeanors resulting in probation. These scandals ultimately led Suarez to end his campaign on August 26, 2013. In ending his candidacy, Suarez cited several factors including "mistakes" made by his campaign team.
Mayor of Miami (2017-2025)
Suarez was elected mayor of Miami in the 2017 election. The Miami Herald noted that his candidacy benefited from a strong effort to motivate voters to cast absentee ballots for him. Suarez is Miami's first local-born mayor. He is also the first mayor to not be born in Cuba since 1996, when mayor Stephen P. Clark died in office. Suarez was re-elected in the 2021 Miami mayoral election, receiving over 78% of the vote in the first ballot.Miami has a weak mayor system under which the mayor holds little authority, The city's mayoralty is a part-time position and does not have power over the city's administration. Its limited powers include a veto over city commission legislation and the ability to declare emergencies. The mayor's signature is not necessary for measures adopted by the commission to be enacted. Legislation is automatically ratified ten days afte adoption by the commission if the mayor does not act to veto it. The mayor of Miami can also hire and fire the city manager who runs Miami's government, though the city commissioners have the ability to overrule a mayor's choice. While he has limited statutory power,
Douglas Hanks of the Miami Herald noted in June 2023 that Suarez has managed to position himself as, "the most high-profile figure" in Miami's city government.
File:President Joe Biden, Andrew Ginther, and Francis Suarez at a January 20, 2023, U.S. Conference of Mayors event in the East Room of the White House.jpg|thumb|President Joe Biden, Andrew Ginther, and Suarez at a January 2023 U.S. Conference of Mayors event in the East Room of the White House
In June 2020, Suarez was elected by American mayors to serve as the second vice president of the United States Conference of Mayors and in June 2021, he was elected as the first vice president of the organization. From June 2022 to June 2023, he served as the president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Suarez was included in Fortune magazine's 2021 list of the "World's 50 Greatest Leaders".