MIAMI — Francis Suarez, Miami’s second-term mayor, has filed papers to run in the Republican presidential primary, casting himself as a conservative problem solver as he faces an FBI probe over payments from a developer seeking help from the city.
Suarez, 45, 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.
