Miami Mayor Francis Suarez files FEC paperwork to enter 2024 presidential race

Miami Mayor Francis X. Suarez filed paperwork Wednesday night with the Federal Election Commission to run for president, and on Thursday morning he released a campaign video titled, “I’m Running.”

The 45-year old Cuban American mayor is entering the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, joining a field of Republicans such as former Vice President Mike Pence, U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, all of whom face a significant challenge to overcome President Donald Trump’s skyrocketing poll numbers.

“I’m running for president because I think I have a different message than what other candidates have. I’m generational,” Suarez told hosts on “Good Morning America,” Thursday. “People want someone who can unify them.”

Suarez also noted that he is the only Hispanic candidate running on both sides of the political spectrum.

“I’m focused on not just winning the 2024 election,” he said. “I’m focused on creating a brand of politics that can win generational elections.”

Suarez is scheduled to speak Thursday evening at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation in Simi Valley, Calif. He has teased his appearance as a “major announcement,” but his FEC filing and GMA appearance revealed his intentions to run.

Suarez, a former Miami city commissioner and Florida lawyer, was first elected mayor of Miami in 2017 and won reelection to his second term in 2021.

He takes great pride in being the city’s first “Miami-born” mayor and the second Cuban American to serve in that position, the first being his father, Xavier Suarez.

“I have traveled across the country. I’ve been to Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada,” Suarez said Sunday night. “I can tell you when I take the message to people, they want to hear more.”

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said  that evening he would make a “major announcement” teasing that he could avail himself as a Republican nominee.

Suarez was elected as the first Miami-born mayor with a “mandate of 86 percent” in 2017 and then reelected with “a mandate of nearly 79 percent” in 2021, according to the Reagan Foundation.