City of Miami residents have elected a Democrat to the mayor’s office for the first time since 1993.
Democrat Commissioner of Miami-Dade County Eileen Higgins defeated former City Manager and Republican Emilio Gonzalez. Higgins will also become the first female mayor in the city’s history.
The runoff race resulted from neither Higgins or Gonzalez reaching more than 50% of votes. The race had 11 other candidates, including the father of the outgoing mayor Francis Suarez, former Mayor Xavier Suarez in the Nov. 4 Primary.
Higgins took the seat by nearly 60% of the vote, adding another victory to an already stacked tally for the Democrats in this year’s elections.
“Tonight history was made. It’s very exciting to be the first woman to serve the city of Miami,” said Higgins to reporters.
Higgins campaigned on affordability, an issue that is important to many young voters.
“We will cut red tape, repair what’s broken and modernize City Hall. We will confront the affordability crisis with the urgency Miami families need,” Higgins said.
She also championed the expansion of mass transit, including resolving the legal dispute between Brightline and Florida East Coast Railway to complete a commuter train project connecting Miami to Aventura. She has also promised to complete the Baylink train, a long proposed project that extends the metro mover service between Miami and Miami Beach.
The outcome of this race was particularly impactful, as President Donald Trump had endorsed Gonzalez.
“It is my Great Honor to endorse Emilio T. Gonzales to be the next Mayor of the Beautiful City of Miami, Florida!” Trump said on Truth Social.
The DNC also deployed its forces into the race. Higgins was endorsed by former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and campaigned during early voting with Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego.
With the blue surge seen in the mayoral election in New York and gubernatorial one in Virginia, many political pundits were watching the race closely, with the Miami Herald even calling the race a “bellwether,” or indicator of trends, for the 2026 midterms.
Despite the gains made by Democrats suggesting a shift from 2024, Republican leadership remains outwardly unbothered by the results.
GOP leaders have deflected many of the party’s losses as par for the course, with the races being in states and cities that tend to vote Democratic anyhow. However, Mayor Suarez, a Republican, had won reelection four years earlier to the same seat Higgins won with an overwhelming 70% of the vote.
Chairman Cooper told Politico that Democrats were “making a mountain out of a molehill.”
“They are going to try to read something into this that it’s not,” he said. “It’s not a rebuke of the president or the party. Democratic city elects Democratic mayor,” Cooper added.
White House Chief of Staff Susi Wiles has also confirmed that President Trump will campaign “like it’s 2024” in races across the country during the midterms. Putting himself on the trail as the face for candidates he is backing, something that a second term president typically doesn’t do.
This comes roughly a month after Trump told GOP senators that him not being on the ballot was “was the biggest factor” in these losses.