Xavier Suarez, Miami’s first Cuban-born mayor, has filed to run for his outdated job, after a decide dominated town’s try to postpone this 12 months’s mayoral election was unconstitutional.
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“I’m throwing my hat again within the ring,” stated Suarez, who served as mayor till 1998 and is the daddy of present Mayor Francis Suarez.
Now 76, Suarez made historical past when he first took workplace as town’s Cuban-born chief, a milestone that resonated deeply in Miami’s giant Cuban-American neighborhood. His bid to return might set the stage for a political rematch with longtime rival Joe Carollo, a present metropolis commissioner rumored to be eyeing a mayoral run. The 2 final confronted off in 1997, when Carollo gained after a court docket battle.
“Submitting for mayor, , it’s been a little bit of a wait as a result of the decide needed to decide,” Suarez stated.
That call got here Monday, when a decide struck down the Miami Metropolis Fee’s controversial 3-2 vote to delay the election till 2026. Supporters of the delay claimed it might enhance voter turnout and scale back prices by aligning metropolis elections with federal ones held in even-numbered years.
Suarez wasn’t satisfied. He stated the logic didn’t maintain up and the change sidestepped authorized necessities.
Commissioner Carollo, regardless of benefiting from the proposed delay, voted in opposition to it. The measure would have prolonged his time period and that of Mayor Francis Suarez.
The lawsuit difficult the postponement was filed by Emilio Gonzalez, a former metropolis supervisor now operating for mayor. He argued town wanted voter approval to alter an election date. The decide agreed, reinforcing that such modifications require a public referendum.
Michael Hepburn, one other mayoral candidate and former College of Miami administrator, additionally opposed the transfer. Hepburn, who’s of Bahamian descent, hopes to turn out to be Miami’s first Black mayor and warned the delay was not solely unconstitutional however undermined democratic rules.
The town plans to attraction the ruling, with a closing choice anticipated inside three weeks.
In the meantime, Suarez’s entrance provides new momentum to a race already beneath authorized and political scrutiny—and reignites a decades-old rivalry that when outlined a pivotal chapter in Miami’s political historical past.
