California investor cuts $250K check for Miami mayor’s reelection amid tech push

Francis Suarez’s reelection campaign is benefiting from his campaign to lure tech companies from California to Miami.

State records released Wednesday show that Miami’s mayor raised more than $400,000 for his reelection campaign in January, months before the Nov. 2 election. More than half of the sum came from one quarter-million-dollar check cut by an early Facebook executive and venture capitalist.

The donor who gave Suarez $250,000? Billionaire Chamath Palihapitiya, one of several California tech bigwigs who has connected with Suarez as he has tried to woo Silicon Valley to reboot in South Florida.

Suarez also received a $100,000 check last month from James Pallotta, a billionaire investor who founded Raptor Group Holdings, which lists a number of investments in technology companies. Pallotta owns a home in Weston.

Suarez, a 43-year-old real estate attorney who is running for a second term as the city’s largely ceremonial mayor, said Palihapitiya’s contribution was probably the single largest check he’s received. But the mayor said his push for tech and constant Twitter presence has led to contributions he didn’t need to solicit.

“That’s inspired and motivated people to support my political committee. There have been a lot of people who have been calling, locally and from different parts as well, who want help,” he said. “So yeah, it hasn’t really been anything intentional on my part.”

Suarez first connected with Palihapitiya on Twitter on Jan. 16 after the tech guru quoted lyrics by the rapper Drake about Tootsie’s, a strip club in Miami Gardens. A video call followed. Palihapitiya recounted the conversation fondly on Twitter late on Jan. 24.

“I spent time with @FrancisSuarez this week,” Palihapitiya wrote at 11:19 p.m. “I have to admit it, the hype is real. It’s amazing to see the outcome when you focus on competent governance and common sense leadership.”

Five minutes later, Suarez gushed back.

“Thank you for believing in me and the future we can create in the best country on the planet...No substitute for hard work and an innovative approach to making the city I grew up in work for everyone...,” the mayor tweeted.

On Wednesday, Suarez said Palihapitiya told him he wanted to support his politics after he shared the story of his Cuban immigrant family and their rise in local politics. Suarez’s father, Xavier Suarez, was the first Cuban-born mayor of Miami.

“He asked how he could help me, and if he could contribute to my political committee,” Suarez said. “I said of course.”

According to campaign finance records, Palihapitiya — who recently flirted with a run for California governor — contributed to Suarez’s new political committee on Jan. 28. Federal campaign records show Palihapitiya has donated more than $1 million in recent years to Democrats across the country. Suarez is a Republican.

Suarez, a prolific fundraiser, only recently began raising money again for his political aspirations. In September, the mayor’s campaign opened a committee with a name that echoes one of the mayor’s talking points: Miami For Everyone. The committee’s first contribution, $315, came from Suarez’s previous committee Miami’s Future, Inc.

Compared to previous elections, Suarez is starting late. He amassed an unprecedented $3 million war chest for his 2017 mayoral campaign, and had raised most of that money by this point in the 2017 campaign.

The following year, he used $300,000 in leftover funds to push a referendum aimed at making him the city’s most powerful administrator, the top decision-maker on the city’s day-to-day operations. The referendum failed, draining a multimillion-dollar campaign account and some political capital.

Now, Suarez, who filed to seek reelection this month, is riding a wave of publicity. On Friday, he had a call with Elon Musk to talk about building a tunnel under the Miami River for electric vehicles.

Stymied by City Hall, Miami’s mayor turns to ‘Cafecito Talks,’ tweets with Elon Musk

Big money contributions

So far, Suarez’s Miami For Everyone committee has raised $476,000 from 15 donors, a mix of individuals and companies ranging from real estate interests to a paint supply company. All but $41,000 of those contributions were made in January. Records show fundraiser Brian Goldmeier is once again helping the mayor raise cash.

Four contributors who donated in December are either principals or related to principals of a real estate project in Wynwood, a plan to redevelop the former site of the Rubell Family Collection on Northwest 29th Street.

David Levinson and Robert Lapidus, who run New York-based L&L Holding Company, gave the committee $10,000 each. That firm is partnering with Carpe Real Estate Partners, another New York firm, on the Wynwood project.

The fathers of Carpe principals Erik Rutter and David Weitz, Mitch Rutter and Perry Weitz gave Suarez $10,000 each in December. The joint venture plans to close on a 15-parcel assemblage this year to build a luxury office and residential project, according to The Real Deal. In January, Carpe Real Estate Partners contributed another $10,000.

Another Miami-based real estate firm, OKO Group, gave $25,000.