Miami Mayor Francis Suarez does not have the name recognition that some of his competitors for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination can boast, but he told Iowans he was uniquely able to draw certain groups of voters away from the Democratic Party.
“I have absolutely no doubt that I would be a impossible candidate for the Democrats to beat, because I attack three core constituencies that, if they were to lose, they will lose the election by a landslide,” Suarez said. “… If we could win Hispanics, if we could win urban voters — which I’ve done already, my community — and young voters, it’s game over. There isn’t a place in the United States where Democrats can win. I’ve already done that.”
The Republican mayor talked with Iowans in back-t0-back stops at the Iowa State Fair, first speaking with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds for a “fair-side chat” before speaking to a group of 30 at the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox.
In both talks, Suarez discussed his experience as a Cuban-American whose parents were “kicked out of their country of birth by a communist dictator.” He said his family history and experience as a Republican mayor in a major American city would make him a good choice to lead conservatives to victory in a national election.
However, Suarez has acknowledged that his bid for the Republican nomination hinges on gaining a higher national profile. In an interview with The Hill Tuesday, the candidate said making it onto the Milwaukee debate stage later this month was “critical” to his campaign, and that he may drop out of the race if he does not qualify for the Aug. 23 debate.
Candidates must have donations from a minimum of 40,000 individuals, as well as hit at least 1% in three national polls or a mix of national and early state polls between July 1 and Aug. 23. Currently, eight candidates have met these thresholds for the debate: former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Trump, Pence and Christie have yet to sign the Republican National Committee’s pledge to back the eventual Republicans nominee regardless of who wins the contest also required to participate.
Suarez said that he is hoping the RNC offers some flexibility in the debate requirements because of some of the obstacles his campaign has encountered, “including not being included in at least a third of the polls that have been that have been put out.” Speaking with reporters after his soapbox speech, Suarez did not commit to dropping out if he does not qualify for the debate, but said he does believe candidates should not “linger around” if they do not have a credible shot at the nomination.
Getting a national platform would give his campaign the momentum needed to build toward that “credible” bid at the Republican nomination, he said.
“When you’re a relatively unknown candidate, you see the reaction that the crowd has and the people have when they listen to me, you know that if you’re given an opportunity to speak at a national level, that you’re gonna be able to connect and that you’re gonna be able to grow,” Suarez said. “So it’s kind of a chicken or an egg problem. And so we’re doing everything we can over the next 10 days to get there.”
This story was published earlier by the Iowa Capital Dispatch, an affiliate of the nonprofit States Newsroom network, which includes the Florida Phoenix.
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