(Trends Wide) –– The Mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez, announced Thursday that he is running for the Republican candidacy for the 2024 elections. Suarez, a Cuban-American, announced his aspiration to the White House from the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California.

“And, like Ronald Reagan, it’s time for a leader who believes in America’s greatest power: the Americans. Who see the infinite possibilities and supported every American in finding their purpose, helping them make their mark on the universe. And that is why yesterday I presented the documentation to run for the Presidency of the United States,” Suarez said.

Precisely, this Wednesday, the mayor presented the documentation to launch his campaign and join the Republican race, which is already being disputed by former President Donald Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, among others.

In what was his first speech as a candidate for the presidential race, Suarez presented himself as an alternative to Trump and DeSantis to win the White House. Without mentioning them by name, she urged Republicans to unite and reach out to Americans with Reagan’s “big tent” political philosophy.

“It’s time for a leader who can connect with segments of our country that Republicans have historically lost, like young voters and urban voters, and segments we can win with, like Hispanics and suburban women,” Suárez said. He then delivered the following line in Spanish: “We need a leader who can connect with all Americans and inspire them to believe in a better future for themselves and their children.”

First Hispanic applicant

Suarez, 45, is currently serving his second term as mayor of Miami, the second most populous city in Florida. Until recently, he also served as president of the bipartisan US Conference of Mayors.

“Now is the time to start,” Suárez said. “It’s time for a next-generation leader who has the vision to lead and the character to connect with everyone.”

He is the first major Hispanic contender to enter the race for the Republican nomination. He doesn’t make it as one of the favorites, however, as Trump and DeSantis dominate the field in the polls.

Suarez, who has previously criticized Trump, told Fox News on Sunday that news of the former president’s first federal indictment felt “un-American” and “wrong on some level.”

In an interview with CBS News last month, Suárez said that deciding on a presidential run was a “soul-searching process.” He also winked at the lack of recognition of him at the national level, saying, “I’m someone who needs to be better known in this country.”

Suarez’s late entry into the Republican primary, relative to other rivals, could affect his chances of qualifying for the first Republican primary debate, scheduled for Aug. 23 in Milwaukee. The Republican National Committee has set strict polling and donor thresholds that candidates must meet to reach the stage.

high profile mayor

Before his first election as mayor in 2017, Suarez was a Miami city commissioner for eight years. His father, Xavier Suarez, was also mayor of Miami in the 1980s and 1990s, though his last victory in 1997 was overturned after an investigation into voter fraud.

As mayor, Suarez has tried to bring a new era of technology, innovation and entrepreneurship to his city, including promoting industries like cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence. He has advocated turning Miami into the new Silicon Valley and has even invited Elon Musk to move the headquarters of Twitter to the city.

Suarez has also spoken about the fight against climate change: “For us, in the city of Miami, it’s not something theoretical, it’s real,” he told CBS News last year.

The mayor has clashed with DeSantis at times, including over the governor’s handling of the covid-19 pandemic, his allegations of voter fraud in the state and, most recently, his dispute with Disney.

However, Suarez is a supporter of the Florida law promoted by DeSantis that critics have dubbed “Don’t Say Gay,” which prohibits certain instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in schools. But Disney’s opposition to the measure led DeSantis to engineer a special tax district takeover that allowed the entertainment giant to build its iconic theme park empire in Florida. The move has alarmed some Republicans, who question elected executives using the power of the state to punish a company.

Disney announced last month that it would not go ahead with plans to build a $1 billion office campus that is estimated to have created 2,000 jobs.

“He took a theme that was a winning theme that we all agreed on,” Suarez told NewsNation in May, “and it looks like now it’s something that’s a spite or maybe potentially a personal vendetta, which has cost the state now potentially 2,000 jobs in a billion dollar investment.”

When DeSantis proposed a police force to investigate voter fraud, Suarez told Trends Wide’s Jake Tapper last year that he didn’t see it “as a major problem in our state, or in our city, frankly.”

During the pandemic, Suarez opposed DeSantis reopening bars as Covid-19 cases continued to rise in the state. He pointed to “the question of whether decisions (made by the state) are data-based or political.”

Suarez told the Miami Herald that he voted for DeSantis’ Democratic opponent in 2018, but voted for the governor.

With reporting from Anna-Maja Rappard and Kyung Lah, both from Trends Wide.