Francis Suarez

Francis Xavier Suarez (born October 6, 1977) is an American lawyer and politician who is the 43rd and current mayor of Miami since November 2017.

He graduated in 1996 and went on to graduate in the top 10% of his class from Florida International University (FIU) with a bachelor's degree in finance.

In 1998 Suarez's father Xavier Suarez was removed from Miami's mayoral office by the Florida circuit court.

The lawsuit by Joe Carollo alleging voter fraud in the first round of the mayoral election, the court found that it had merit.

During the lawsuit, Suarez's father was confronted with witness signatures for invalid absentee ballots by Carollo's lawyers.

The signatory "F. Suarez" did not reside at any of the addresses given.

Suarez's father denied any involvement with witnessing absentee ballots.

Observers found, that the sample of signatures given by Suarez's father did bear some resemblance to the signatures on the witness ballots.

Before serving in the city government, Suarez first served on his local homeowner association.

Suarez cited a home burglery that he had suffered as his motivation for getting involved.

After that he earned a J.D. from the University of Florida in 2004.

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.

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.

On July 1, 2023, due to his ongoing presidential candidacy, Suarez went on unpaid leave from the firm.

The son of former Miami mayor Xavier Suarez, he previously served on the Miami City Commission from 2009 to 2017.

Suarez is a graduate of Florida International University (FIU), where he earned a bachelor's degree in finance.

He was first elected to represent the 4th district in the Miami City Commission in 2009 and was reelected in 2011 and 2015.

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 as 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 subsequently reelected unopposed in both 2011 and 2015.

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.

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.

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.

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.