He’s taking his talents from South Beach.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run for president Wednesday, becoming the third Florida man to enter the crowded 2024 GOP contest.
Suarez, who has been Miami’s mayor since 2017, is expected to formally lay out his platform in remarks at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute in Southern California Thursday.
The 45-year-old will enter the race as an unknown quantity, with his name not even being polled in many surveys of likely Republican primary voters.
However, Suarez has stoked presidential buzz in recent weeks by taking swipes at his fellow Floridians, Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump.
“He seems to struggle with relationships, generally,” Suarez told “Fox & Friends” of DeSantis back in April. “I mean, I look at people in the eye when I shake their hands.”
Both DeSantis and Trump are widely considered the leading Republican contenders, with Trump holding a commanding 30-point lead over his peers in the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate.
Despite his lack of name recognition, Suarez has earned high praise from former Trump adviser and campaign manager Kellyanne Conway.
“I’ve not been shy about telling President Trump that Suarez should be on the shortlist for VP should Trump be the nominee,” Conway told Politico last month.
Suarez patted himself on the back Tuesday after the arraignment of Trump in Miami federal court on 37 counts related to his hoarding of classified documents passed off peacefully.
“Today was about keeping people safe. We achieved it,” Suarez tweeted.
Suarez is backed by a super PAC called SOS America, which is out with an initial spot hailing him as a “tough-on-crime” politician. The group says it plans to spend six figures running the ad in early voting states including Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada.
In order to qualify for the first GOP primary debate in Milwaukee Aug. 23, Suarez will need to accrue a minimum of 40,000 unique donors and poll at least 1% in at least three national polls or one early state poll and two national polls. He will also need to pledge to back the eventual party nominee.