Democrat Eileen Higgins on Tuesday became the first member of her party in almost three decades to win the Miami mayoral race, defeating Republican Emilio Gonzalez in a landmark victory that reshapes the political map of one of Donald Trump’s strongest Florida bases.
It was projected that Higgins the winner less than an hour after polls closed, with vote totals showing the former Miami-Dade County commissioner leading Gonzalez by 18 percentage points. The contest, though officially nonpartisan, drew national attention as a high-stakes test of voter sentiment in a Hispanic-majority city long dominated by Republican politics.
Higgins’ win builds on a wave of Democratic victories in recent off-year elections that have rattled Republicans ahead of the 2026 midterms and raised questions about whether Trump’s gains among Hispanic voters in 2024 are beginning to erode.
In her victory message on Facebook, the 61-year-old avoided national political framing, instead saying Miami had “turned the page on years of chaos and corruption.” Her election marks several milestones: she is the first Democrat to lead Miami since Xavier Suarez in 1997, the first woman ever elected mayor of the city, and the first non-Hispanic candidate to win since the 1990s.
The results provide a new signal of shifting political winds in Miami-Dade County, where Hispanic voters played a decisive role in Trump’s 55% showing in the 2024 presidential election. The Miami Herald reported that many of those voters had previously been loyal to Democrats.
Higgins entered the November 4 first round with 36% of the vote, finishing well ahead of her rivals but short of the majority required for an outright win. Gonzalez, a former city manager and retired US Army colonel, secured 18%, setting up Tuesday’s runoff.
Although both candidates began with nonpartisan messaging, the race took on national significance after a series of Democratic victories across several states. The stakes intensified when Trump endorsed Gonzalez on November 17 via Truth Social, urging voters to rally behind him. The Democratic National Committee and senior Democrats including US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg responded by publicly backing Higgins.
Still, analysts warn against drawing sweeping national conclusions. Miami-Dade’s current mayor, Daniella Levine Cava also a Democrat and a non-Hispanic woman has twice won countywide even as Trump carried the county in last year’s presidential contest.
Erizia Rubyjeana
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