Democrat Eileen Higgins has won the Miami Mayor’s race, ending her party’s nearly three-decade losing streak.
After winning 36% of the vote in last month’s election after which the top two candidates moved forward, she defeated Republican Emilio González, a former City Manager, in the runoff vote. Gonzalez was endorsed by US President Donald Trump.
Higgins said in a statement after the results were announced that the people of Miami made history.
“Together, we turned the page on years of chaos and corruption, and opened the door to a new era for our city, one defined by ethical, accountable leadership that delivers real results for the people.”
Eileen Higgins
Higgins, 61, will be the first woman to lead the city of Miami. She will be sworn in as the first Democratic Mayor since 1997, when Xavier Suarez, the father of the outgoing incumbent, Francis Suarez, a Republican, was elected. She is also the first non-Hispanic candidate since the 1990s.
The mayoral position in Miami is more ceremonial, but Higgins has promised to execute it like a full-time job. The city is part of Miami-Dade County, which Trump flipped last year, a dramatic improvement from his 30 percentage point loss to Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016.
As Florida’s second-largest city, Miami is considered the gateway to Latin America and attracts millions of tourists. Its global prominence gives Higgins a significant stage as Mayor.
Her pitch to voters included finding city-owned land that could be turned into affordable housing and cutting unnecessary spending.
Higgins also focused much of her campaign on immigration. She presented the election to voters as a referendum on the US President’s policies, which have included supporting Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis in the construction of the notorious “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration jail, and moves to end temporary protected status (TPS) and humanitarian parole programs for various immigrant groups including Venezuelans, Haitians and Cubans.
Her messaging resonated in Miami, whose inhabitants are 57% foreign-born, according to the 2024 census. “He [Trump] and I have very different points of view on how we should treat our residents, many of whom are immigrants,” Higgins stated in an interview this week.
“That is the strength of this community. We are an immigrant-based place. That’s our uniqueness. That’s what makes us special.”
Eileen Higgins
The election of Higgins, 61, a former County Commissioner, adds to a string of Democratic wins across the country that have served to highlight the growing level of resistance to Donald Trump in his second presidential term.
Democrats nationally will see the result as a further strengthening of their position after massively successful off-year state and local elections last month.
It gives Democrats a boost in one of the last electoral battles before the 2026 midterms. The victory provides Democrats with some momentum heading into a high-stakes midterm election next year.
Higgins’ Victory Solidifies Backlash Against Trump’s Policies
Laura Kelley, Chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic party, said that Higgins’ victory solidified a backlash in Florida against Trump’s policies on immigration and the economy in particular.
“The messaging for us is very local because every single one of these issues is pertinent to the daily lives of people who live in south Florida.
“So we’re seeing families torn apart by ICE’s indiscriminate mass deportations. We are seeing prices continue to go up. We’re seeing the affordability crisis with housing and insurance premiums continue to go up. And so this is all extremely local, and it matters who the Mayor is of this city.”
Laura Kelley
Kelley said that the result was also validation of a stronger grass-roots effort among Democrats to help reverse what has been a strong swing to Republicans in terms of registered voters in Florida.
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