Dec. 10 (UPI) — Miami voters have elected Eileen Higgins its first mayor aligned with the Democratic Party in nearly three decades.
With 100% of precincts reporting, Higgins secured nearly 60% of the vote, besting Republican Emilio Gonzalez in the runoff election, according to unofficial results from the Miami-Dade County Elections Supervisor Alina Garcia.
A little more than 37,000 votes were cast in the Miami mayoral race.
“Tonight, history was made. Our city chose a new direction,” she said, claiming victory in her speech Tuesday night before supporters.
“You chose competence over chaos, results over excuses and a city government that finally works.”
Though the Miami mayoral races are nonpartisan, the presence of the two political parties weighed heavily, with Higgins receiving the support of the Democratic National Committee and Gonzalez the endorsement of President Donald Trump.
Higgins’ victory in Miami continues a string of wins for the Democratic Party, which last month won the New York mayoral and New Jersey and Virginian gubernatorial races.
Higgins, a 61-year-old urban progressive, beat fiscally conservative reformist Gonzalez in Trump’s home state. Miami is also located in Miami-Dade County, which Trump won by nearly 12 percentage points in November 2024’s election.
Higgins, a Miami-Dade County commissioner, campaigned on a clear anti-Trump stance. She strongly supports LGBTQ causes while criticizing the GOP’s targeting of the marginalized community’s rights.
Like Zohran Mamdani, who won New York City’s mayoral race last month, Higgins campaigned on affordable housing and anti-displacement policies, expanding mass transit and climate adaptation initiatives.
Gonzalez, 68, former Miami-Dade County manager and veteran, ran on a campaign of strong policing and public safety and immigration enforcement. He is also a senior fellow at the hard-right, Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute.
He has conceded.
“No Democrat has been elected mayor of Miami in nearly 30 years. Until tonight,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement.
“Congratulations to Mayor-elect Eileen Higgins on crushing Donald Trump’s candidate! We are coming for the three South Florida Republicans next.”
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.