As a member of the centre-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Šuica served two consecutive terms as mayor of Dubrovnik between 2001 and 2009. She was the first female mayor of Dubrovnik and one of the first female mayors of major Croatian cities in modern Croatia. She served as a member of the Croatian Parliament in three terms from 2001 to 2011. Since 2004, she has been elected five times in a row as Vice-President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. She has been elected to the European Parliament in 2013 election and reelected in 2014 and 2019. In October 2012, she was elected Vice-President of the EPP Women's association and in June 2019 Vice-President of the EPP's EU parliament group.