# Xavier Suarez

Xavier Louis Suarez (born May 21, 1949) is an American politician who was the first Cuban-born mayor of Miami and was a Miami-Dade county commissioner.

## Early life and education

He was born on May 21, 1949, in Las Villas, Cuba. Suarez moved to Florida and attended the Colegio de Belén, but graduated from St. Anselm's Abbey School in 1967. He earned a Bachelor of Engineering from Villanova University in 1971, followed by a Master of Public Policy and Juris Doctor from Harvard University.

## Career

After completing his education, Suarez returned to Miami and was sworn in as mayor on November 13, 1985, succeeding Maurice Ferré.
Suarez was first elected mayor in 1985. He was re-elected in 1987 and again in 1989 for a four-year term. While mayor, Suárez declared "Yahweh ben Yahweh Day" on October 7, 1990, a month before Yahweh ben Yahweh was indicted. Suarez cited the construction of 1,500 affordable homes as one of his "proudest achievements" during his tenure. He was also given the name "pothole mayor" for his attention to city neighborhoods.
He decided not to run again in 1993 in order to spend more time with his family. He returned to practice law in Miami before he decided to run again in November 1997 and was re-elected. However, on March 5 of the following year, Suarez was effectively removed from office on account of voting fraud. While Suarez was not personally implicated, the prosecuting circuit court judge cited the district as ''the center of a massive, well-conceived and well-orchestrated absentee ballot voter fraud scheme.'' People working for Suarez's campaign were found forging voter signatures, including at least one of a dead citizen. This came after a lawsuit was brought by Joe Carollo alleging voter fraud in the first round of the mayoral election, allegations which the court found held merit. During the lawsuit, Suarez was confronted with witness signatures for invalid absentee ballots by Carollo's lawyers. The signatory "F. Suarez" did not reside at any of the addresses given. Suarez denied any involvement with witnessing absentee ballots. Observers found, that the sample of signatures given by Suarez did bear some resemblance to the signatures on the witness ballots.
Suarez ran for numerous positions in Miami-Dade including mayor of Miami-Dade County in 1996, mayor of Miami in 2001, Miami-Dade commissioner in 2004, and a seat in the Florida House of Representatives in 2006.
Suarez was elected as a Miami-Dade County commissioner for District 7 on May 24, 2011, and was re-elected by a 44-point margin on August 30, 2016. In 2020, term-limited from his seat, Suarez ran for county mayor, finishing in fourth place behind former county mayor Alex Penelas.
During his time as mayor, Suarez also received backlash for refusing to greet South African President Nelson Mandela during his 1990 tour of the United States which included a stop in Miami. Suárez was in disagreement with Mandela's comments where he referred to Cuban President Fidel Castro as a "brother in arms" due to Castro's support for the African National Congress.

## Personal life

He was the ninth child and second son of 14 children of Manuel Suárez-Carreno, the first Dean of the School of Engineering at the Universidad Católica de Santo Tomás de Villanueva (St. Thomas of Villanova Catholic University), and Eloisa Gaston. He is married to Rita and they have four children: Francis Xavier Suarez, who became Mayor of Miami as a Republican in 2017 as well as a candidate for President in the 2024 Election; Olga Marie Vieira; Anna Teresita; and Carolina Suárez. His sister, Lala, is the mother of U.S. Congressman Alex Mooney from West Virginia.