Democrat Eileen Higgins wins Miami mayor race, breaks 30-year losing streak
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It took nearly 30 years, but Democrats finally broke their decades-long losing streak at the ballot box in Miami, Florida, known as the nation’s “Gateway to Latin America.”
Democrat Eileen Higgins, a former county commissioner, defeated Republican Emilio Gonzalez, a former city manager, in a Miami mayoral runoff election on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.
Although the election was technically non-partisan, the ballot box showdown was the latest showdown between Democrats and Republicans this year; Both sides poured resources into the race, and the race attracted widespread national attention.
President Donald Trump has endorsed Gonzalez, saying on social media last weekend that the Miami mayoral election “is a big, important race!!! Vote for Republican Gonzalez.”
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Democratic County Commissioner Eileen Higgins and Republican candidate Emilio Gonzalez, backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, faced off in a runoff for Miami mayor on Tuesday after no candidate received 50% of the vote in November’s election. (Tribune News Service via Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/Getty Images; Rebecca Blackwell; The Associated Press)
Meanwhile, the Florida Republican Party has poured resources into supporting Gonzalez.
But Democrats, buoyed by decisive 2025 election victories last month and a double-digit outperformance in last week’s special election in a red-leaning congressional district in Tennessee, were eyeing a victory in Miami.
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The Democratic National Committee (DNC) and allied groups have invested in the race.
DNC Chairman Kent Martin told Fox News Digital last week that after “the historic outperformance in Tennessee and the record momentum for Democrats across the country this year,” the DNC is now “laser focused” on the Miami mayoral runoff.
Martin added that the DNC was “all in” for Higgins.
Miami-Dade County commissioner Eileen Higgins, who is running in Tuesday’s Miami mayoral runoff election, speaks to supporters as they prepare to canvass for her at Miami City Hall in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo)
Florida was once the largest of the general election battleground states, but has moved dramatically to the right in the past decade.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis won re-election in 2022 by nearly 20 points, and Trump swept the state by 13 points in last year’s presidential election victory.
But Miami remains a rare blue oasis in the Sunshine State. Trump narrowly lost the city in last year’s presidential election, but the president won Miami-Dade County by 11 points.
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Higgins, a mechanical engineer and former Peace Corps director in Belize, focused his campaign on affordability and making local government work better and faster.
González, a veteran and senior advisor at an asset management firm, highlighted the fight against overdevelopment and called for the elimination of property taxes for primary homes while running for mayor.
Miami mayoral candidate Emilio Gonzalez speaks to supporters and media at an election night vigil party at Hoy Como Ayer in Little Havana, Miami, on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (Al Diaz/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Higgins received 36% of the votes in the November 4 election, while Gonzalez came in second in the multiple candidate category with 19%. Since no candidate could exceed 50%, the contest went to a second round on Tuesday.
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Higgins will replace term-limited Republican Mayor Francis Suarez, who drew national attention two years ago by briefly and unsuccessfully running for the GOP presidential nomination.
