Miami Mayor Francis Suarez enters GOP presidential race day after Trump's arraignment
WASHINGTON (TND) — Another candidate has joined an ever-growing list of politicians to enter the race for president.
Just one day after former President Donald Trump was arraigned in Florida for allegedly mishandling classified documents, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez threw his hat into the GOP ring.
The Associated Press reported Suarez filed paperwork Wednesday to launch his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.
The 45-year-old mayor, the only Hispanic candidate in the race, declared his candidacy with the Federal Election Commission.
Suarez, who is the president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, is now among several other candidates in the GOP primary.
Aside from Trump, they include Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Miami federal court to 37 felony counts. Trump has described the charges as part of an ongoing "witch hunt" and continues to campaign for president.
Suarez has said he didn’t support Trump in either the 2016 or 2020 presidential elections, instead writing in the names of U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and then-Vice President Pence. In 2018, Suarez publicly condemned Trump after reports came out that he had questioned why the United States would accept more immigrants from Haiti and Africa.
_____
EDITOR'S NOTE: The Associated Press contributed to this report.