Although mayoral elections are not usually politicized, the election in Miami on December 9 was due to the involvement of Trump and Ron DeSantis. The president and governor endorsed Republican Emilio Gonzalez, and in return, the Florida Democratic Party threw its support behind Democrat Eileen Higgins, who won the election with 59% of the vote to Gonzalez’s 41%. For Nikki Fried, chair of the Florida Democratic Party, “the pendulum is swinging in favor of Democrats after this victory in Miami.”
For 28 years, the Magic City was under the leadership of Republican mayors, and for Higgins, this Democratic shift is significant, especially since she is the city’s first female mayor. It should also be noted that since the mid-1990s, all mayors have been of Latin American origin or descent, such as the outgoing mayor, Francis Suarez. Higgins was born in Ohio and raised in New Mexico before arriving in Miami in the 2000s. She is a mechanical engineer by training and a former diplomat, having served as director of the Peace Corps in Belize. Since 2018, she has been a member of the Miami-Dade County Commission.
The new mayor’s campaign focused on issues close to people’s hearts: transparency, affordable housing, climate resilience, and immigration.
The day after Higgins’ victory, according to WFSU Public Media, Fried said: “We are forming a coalition to make sure that pendulum swings, because we know that a pendulum only swings when it is pushed by a force, and we, along with the Democratic Party, are forming that coalition to be the force that will push the pendulum to swing.” However, for Even Power, chairman of the Florida Republican Party, this is simply a flash in the pan and not a negative sign for his party.
WSFU points out that, across the country, Democrats have performed better in special and municipal elections than they did in the 2024 presidential election. The public media outlet also notes that in Florida, Republicans maintain a comfortable lead with more than one million registered voters.
Results of Eileen Higgins’ victory in Miami
• Decisive independents: in neighborhoods where independent voters (NPA)
represent more than 40% of registered voters, Higgins won 60% to 40%.
• Democratic neighborhoods: she dominated in blue strongholds, winning nearly 90% of the vote.
• Republican neighborhoods: González took about 65%, but Higgins managed to capture a third of the vote, limiting her losses. (source: Miami Herald)
Demographic analysis of voters
• Cuban-American voters: González maintained the lead with about 62%, but Higgins avoided a total collapse by winning 38%.
• Black voters: Higgins won 9 out of 10 votes in predominantly African-American neighborhoods.
• White voters: she won nearly 70% of the vote.
• Hispanic voters (excluding Cubans): results similar to Cubans,
with González at 60% and Higgins at 40%. (source: Miami Herald)
