Miami’s popular Republican Mayor Francis Suarez held a private court with wealthy political financiers as he considered challenging the former president donald trump for the 2024 GOP nomination, according to party fundraisers and donors familiar with the matter.
suarez said journalists Friday that he was still considering running for president. From late last year, Suarez privately laid the groundwork for a potential White House bid. He recently met with the likes of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and former Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker to explain these people.
Suarez could also run for governor of Florida, a person close to the mayor told CNBC. Those who spoke to CNBC declined to be named because those discussions are private. Suarez won his first term as mayor in 2017 with 86% of the vote and was re-elected in 2021 with 78% of the vote. If Suarez enters the presidential primary, he is trailing another popular mayor who has had a long run for the White House.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was first elected mayor of South Bend, Indiana with 74% of the vote in 2011. He won re-election in 2015 with more than 80% of the vote before stepping down and launching his presidential campaign and losing to President Joe Biden. in the 2020 Democratic primary.
If Suarez jumps into the 2024 Republican primary for president, polls suggest he would be a strong contender for underdogs while possibly facing a familiar face: Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. A Fox News poll taken in February showed Suarez had zero support among attendees when asked who they would like to see as the Republican candidate for president.
Former president donald trump, who has launched his own White House bid, and DeSantis, led the poll with 43% and 28% of the vote. DeSantis has yet to announce his candidacy for president. The first Republican primary debate is program will take place in August in the battleground state of Wisconsin.
Days before the Fox News poll was released, Suarez was in Boston in late February holding meetings with the likes of Kraft. He was also part of a separate rally with more than two dozen political heavyweights, including former Massachusetts Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, two people with direct knowledge of the meetings said.
Suarez did not return a request for comment. Spokespersons for Kraft, Fink, Schwarzman and Baker, who was recently named NCAA president, also did not respond to requests for comment.
Kraft has been close to Trump for years, but he has backed a mix of Democrats and Republicans over the years, according to data from nonpartisan campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets. The billionaire and New England Patriots owner was among a group of business leaders who advised Trump on how to revive the economy in 2020 at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
During the lunch with Baker, the Miami mayor remarked to attendees that he was still considering running for president and took aim at DeSantis, saying the Florida governor wanted to play politics while Suarez wanted to act for his constituents. , according to those with direct knowledge. Of the reunion.
The apparent feud between DeSantis and Suarez could come to a head if the two run for president in 2024.
The Washington Post reported in January that DeSantis and Suarez haven’t spoken since the mayor went down with Covid-19 in 2020. The lack of conversations between the two men came as Suarez in 2021 torn DeSantis and top state officials for not allowing cities like Miami to move forward with Covid mask mandates.
Suarez and DeSantis are both subject to term limits and cannot run for re-election. Suarez’s tenure ends in 2025while DeSantis’ last official day as governor is in 2027. Florida state law bars governors from running for re-election after consecutively winning two four-year terms. Miami mayors can only be in charge of two four-year terms.
Suarez was also in New York in February to meet with GOP donors and told some of them he was “seriously considering [a run for president]“, according to a donor who met with Suarez. The mayor of Miami will return to New York in April to hold similar meetings, the fundraisers explained.
Suarez has met with Schwarzman and Fink before, a person close to the mayor said. Blackstone and BlackRock each have offices in Miami. Representatives for the two companies did not return requests for comment.
Schwarzman donated $36 million to Republican causes in the 2022 election cycle, according to OpenSecrets. Schwarzman, who donated millions to try to get Trump re-elected in 2020, said he won’t help the former president in the 2024 GOP primary.
Fink and BlackRock became the faces of the Republican anti-ESG movement. Under DeSantis’ leadership, Florida has drawn $2 billion in assets managed by BlackRock as the wealth management firm applies ESG investing practices.
Although records show Fink gave most of his campaign contributions to Democrats, as leader of the world’s largest asset manager he worked with presidents of both parties. Fink was on Trump initial works council and was in regular contact hit with the Trump White House as the pandemic swept across the United States.