Higgins and Gonzalez advance to Miami mayor runoff after 13-candidate race
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Democratic County Commissioner Eileen Higgins and Republican candidate Emilio González, with the support of Gov. Ron DeSantis, will participate in a Dec. 9 runoff election to determine Miami’s next mayor after no candidate received more than 50% of the vote.
The top two candidates emerged from a crowded field of 13 and will face off to replace term-limited Republican Mayor Francis Suarez.
If no candidate receives 50 percent or more of the votes, the top two candidates must compete in a runoff in the mayoral race.
Higgins, Miami-Dade County’s commissioner elected in 2018, represents parts of Miami Beach, Downtown, Brickell, Coral Way, Little Havana and West Flagler, according to the county’s website.
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Higgins, a Miami Democrat, is a former engineer, marketing executive and Peace Corps Belize country director. He accepted this position in 2006. He later worked as a Foreign Service Officer at the US State Department.
“There will be no drama,” Higgins said in his closing remarks at the Oct. 16 mayoral debate. “There will be no corruption. There will be no yelling. It’s just me, day in and day out, working on your behalf to get things done – to see the things you told me you wanted to see happen in this city. The city you love. The city I love. The city that’s supposed to be the best place in the world.”
Mayoral candidate Eileen Higgins waves and thanks her staff and supporters as she heads into the runoff at an election watch party at the Yotel in downtown Miami on Election Day, Nov. 4, 2025. (Carl Juste/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
He campaigned on affordability by “cutting red tape that hinders homeowners and small businesses from moving forward,” funding police and first responders, improving transportation and protecting the environment, and restoring trust in Miami City Hall, according to his campaign website.
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An aerial view shows the downtown Miami property on Biscayne Boulevard next to the Freedom Tower earmarked for former President Donald Trump’s future presidential library. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump, himself a Florida resident, has not endorsed a nominee.
Although the mayoral race has not attracted the same national attention as the gubernatorial races in New York or New Jersey and Virginia, it has been marked by past scandals and political attacks by both Democratic and Republican candidates. In September, a Florida judge blocked the city’s plan to postpone the November election to 2026 without voter approval, following a lawsuit filed by mayoral candidate and former City Manager Gonzalez.
Gonzalez, a leading Republican candidate, was supported by DeSantis and Florida Republican Senator Rick Scott. She previously served as a bilingual surrogate for Trump’s presidential campaign, worked on the president’s transition team, and was later named a senior fellow at the America First Policy Institute.
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Emilio González, candidate for mayor of the city of Miami, speaks at a press conference outside his home in Miami on July 16, 2025. (Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
He campaigned on modernizing city services, reducing property taxes, easing regulations on small businesses, increasing police presence and reducing government spending, according to his campaign website.
“We need reform, and we need reform badly,” he said during the mayoral debate on October 16, following public distrust in local government.
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“Our city government has failed our residents,” he said at the debate. “That’s why we’re all here. We failed them. We failed them, and they don’t trust us.”
“Public service and being a mayor should be a profession,” he added. “It’s not about making money, it’s not about boosting my ego, it’s not about getting me another office, it’s not about clickbait or anything like that. It’s a professional thing, you have to want to do it.”
Also entering the 2025 Miami mayoral race are former Miami Mayors Joe Carollo and Xavier Suarez, father of current Mayor Francis Suarez, as well as Alex Díaz de la Portilla, Christian Cevallos, June Savage, Alyssa Crocker, Elijah John Bowdre, Ken Russell, Laura Anderson, Michael Hepburn and attorney Kenneth James DeSantis, who is not related to Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.
