Xavier Suarez, Miami's first Cuban-born mayor, plans to run for mayor again

Tess Riski, Miami Herald on Jul 21, 2025

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MIAMI — Xavier Suarez, the first Cuban-born mayor of Miami and the father of the city’s current mayor, announced Monday that he plans to file to run for mayor.

Suarez’s announcement landed hours after a judge ruled that it was unlawful for the city of Miami to postpone its November 2025 election to November 2026 without voter approval. The city quickly filed a notice of appeal.

“I’m energized,” Suarez said in a brief interview with the Miami Herald. He said he plans to file his candidate paperwork Tuesday morning.

Suarez became the city’s first Cuban mayor in 1985. He was reelected to a two-year term in 1987 and then to a four-year term in 1989.

Suarez’s announcement tees up a potential redo of the 1997 mayoral race, when Suarez and Joe Carollo went head-to-head. Carollo, now a city commissioner, has long been teasing a run for mayor in November.

Carollo, the incumbent, initially lost to Suarez in 1997. But the election was overturned because of ballot fraud, and Carollo was declared the winner the following year, serving as mayor from 1998 to 2001.

Suarez’s son, Francis Suarez, was elected mayor in 2017 and is termed out of office at the end of the year. If Xavier Suarez is elected in November and serves the entirety of the four-year term, a Suarez will have occupied the position of Miami mayor for 12 consecutive years.

Xavier Suarez said Monday that the city “could use a serious reform.” That includes supporting ballot initiatives to move the city elections to even-numbered years and to expand the City Commission from five to nine members.

Suarez said in a press release that he also plans to “actively oppose” a proposal from Commissioner Damian Pardo to create lifetime term limits for elected officials. That ballot referendum is heading to voters in November.

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