Esteban Morello 2024 presidential campaign

 

Esteban Morello for President 2024

Campaigned for	2024 Antillean presidential election (Civic Democratic primaries)
Candidate	Esteban Morello Governor of Cuba (2021–present) Antillean Representative from Cuba (2013–2021)
Affiliation	Civic Democratic Party
Status	Announced: May 31, 2023 Withdrew: June 17, 2024
Headquarters	Trinidad, Cuba
Key people	Joe Vasquez (campaign manager)
Slogan	Freedom and prosperity for all!

The 2024 presidential campaign of Esteban Morello was formally launched on May 31, 2023, at a rally held in his hometown of Trinidad, Cuba. Morello is the sixth and most recent candidate to formally enter the primary elections to secure the Civic Democratic nomination for the 2024 Antillean presidential election. He is the second Civic Democratic candidate from Cuba after Representative Sarah Wilson as well as being the first Hispanic candidate, the first incumbent governor, and the second Roman Catholic Civic Democratic presidential candidate as well.

Esteban Morello has served as the Governor of Cuba since 2021 where he won a major victory in 2020 against Federalist nominee and then-incumbent Dan Frost, making Morello the first candidate in Cuban state history to unseat an incumbent governor since the start of democratization in 1983. As governor, Morello has recieved positive approval ratings and would be credited with ensuring a blue wave in the 2022 Cuba elections which saw the Civic Democrats regain control over the Cuba Provisional Assembly and the entire state government.

Morello had been speculated as a potential candidate for the presidency since January 2023 as he had previously expressed interest in running for president. Factors that contributed to further speculation outside of his publically expressed interest included his successes as governor, role in the party's victories in the 2022 state elections, and being credited with shifting Cuba more to the left and in favor of the Civic Democrats which has been viewed as a major factor for the presidential election in Cuba and how competative the state could be. Morello filed paperwork to run for office with the FEC on May 21 just ten days before formally announcing his candidacy.

Throughout the primaries, Morello was the only Hispanic candidate in the race and garnered much of his support from Latino and indigenous Civic Democratic voters. Morello withdrew from the race on June 17, 2024, the day before the Cuba primary where he endorsed Allen Paul the same day. At the time of his withdraw, Morello had come in third place in the primaries, winning over 640,000 votes and 125 delegates.

Background

Esteban Morello, governor of Cuba since 2021.

Esteban Morello had began his political career in 2012 when he ran for the Antillean House of Representatives to represent Cuba's 14th district in the chamber. Morello was successfully elected by a margin of 53.1% and his margin would continue to grow as the district became more blue and liberal-leaning during his tenure as a congressional representative between 2013 and 2021. Morello was previously a member of the Reform Party before its merger with the Liberal and Civic National parties to create the modern Civic Democratic Party in 2017, a merger that he voiced support for. As a Congressional Representative, Morello stood out for his vocal criticisms of the Federalist Party, criticising the conservative policies of its congressional memebrs and those of the Michael Abarough administration. Morello also stood out for his vocal criticisms of the Abarough family and its continued influence on national politics despite the controversy that was brought upon him as a result. Morello would gain allies amongst both mainstream liberal and progressive members of the party, often paroting the rhetoric and policy proposals made by both camps throughout his political career. In 2020, he declined to stand for re-election to the House of Representatives and instead ran for governor in his home commonwealth of Cuba against Dan Forst to "restore Cuba's greatness". Morello's campaign for governor was considered a longshot due to Frost's status as an incumbent as well as the slight lean in favor of the Federalist Party that was present in 2020 along with significant financial support given to Frost for his re-election bid. While Frost initially lead in the polls, Morello caught up and both candidates would be stuck in a statistical tie in the last months leading up to election day, however Morello outperformed the polls by defeating frost by a 5.5% margin in the general election, winning several parishes that were previously won by Frost and even some carried by Arian Lawrence during the concurrent presidential election on November 8.

Factors that contributed to Morello's victory were the low approval ratings of Frost, successful campaign ads, more well-recieved policy proposals and his appeal to minority and young voters that resulted in high voter turnout in the election. Morello's victory further came as a surprise due to the Federalist Party regaining control over the provisional assembly in the concurrent legislative elections as Lawrence narrowly carrying Cuba in the general election, however the results ultimately showed a decline in electoral support for the Federalists. Morello's first two years as governor saw him achieve high approval ratings even in the face of obstruction by the Federalist-controlled legislature which saw him make limited legislative accomplishments, something that he frequently highlighted in numerous media appearances. At the start of 2022, Morello would engage in an ambitious electoral campaign for the state elections including mass canvassing efforts and ad campaigns which culiminated in the Civic Democrats winning the statewide races, including regaining control over the state legislature and other state-wide offices, where a predicted blue wave materialized.

Morello's successful electoral campaign combined with further legislative accomplishments as governor with a Civic Democrat-controlled legislature saw him see higher approval ratings and shifted Cuba and its politics to the left in favor of the Civic Democrats. These factors lead to many media outlets speculating about Morello potentially running for president which increased after William Abernathy, the party's presidential candidate for 2020, declined to run for re-election after months of speculation and private contemplation. Morello would begin expressing interest in running for president, but it wouldn't be until mid-April that he would lay out a timetable for announcing his decision, ultimately choosing May 31 as the date of his announcement.

Campaign

Announcement

Esteban Morello formally announced his candidacy for the presidency and the 2024 presidential election on May 31 at a rally in his hometown of Trinidad. Morello had made preparations ahead of time, filing the paperwork to run ten days prior on May 21 and began setting up the venue and stage for his announcement two weeks ahead of time where tickets started selling online on May 22 and were sold out just four days later. The rally had thousands of antendees, including former governor Lawrence Martinez, Cuba Secretary of State Robert Menendez, and Cuba Civic Democratic Party chairwoman Loretta Abbott as notable officials who attended the rally and appeared as speakers as well as the first officials to formally endorse his candidacy.