Former Miami-Dade County Commissioner Eileen Higgins gained Miami’s mayoral runoff election Tuesday, marking the primary time in additional than 30 years that town has elected a Democrat as mayor.
Higgins secured 59% of the vote as opposed to former Miami Town Supervisor Emilio Gonzalez‘s just about 41%, in line with unofficial effects from the Miami-Dade County Manager of Elections. The win marks an finish to a aggressive race that started with a crowded 13-person box.
“Our metropolis selected a brand new course,” Higgins informed the cheering crowd at her election night time birthday celebration. “You selected competence over chaos, effects over excuses and a metropolis executive that in the end works for you.”
The marketing campaign targeted on problems akin to immigration, housing, flooding, metropolis expansion, and the tone of management Miami wishes. Higgins and Gonzalez confronted off in a CBS Information Miami debate moderated through Jim DeFede on Nov. 25, giving electorate an opportunity to check their visions for town.
Whilst the race used to be formally nonpartisan, Higgins had the backing of distinguished Democrats, whilst Republicans, together with Gov. Ron DeSantis and President Trump, counseled Gonzalez.
Higgins’ imaginative and prescient for Miami
Higgins served 8 years at the Miami-Dade County Fee and campaigned on restoring public believe and bringing what she described as calmer, extra collaborative management to Town Corridor. Reasonably priced housing used to be a cornerstone of her platform. She pledged to make use of city-owned land to construct housing for operating households and criticized Miami’s speedy expansion with out corresponding enhancements in products and services.
She also referred to as for a complete evaluate of metropolis spending and proposed updating rules to permit permeable pavement and boost up park development to reinforce drainage citywide. Higgins helps increasing the Town Fee from 5 to 9 participants, arguing that Miami’s legislative frame is strangely small in comparison to different main towns and leaves many communities underrepresented.
On immigration enforcement, Higgins voiced robust issues, calling contemporary movements in Miami “inhumane and harsh.”
Higgins vowed to paintings with the Trump management on problems the place they may be able to to find not unusual flooring, however informed CBS Information, “Once we disagree, I will make my voice heard.”
Higgins celebrates historical victory
Cheers within a Miami ballroom grew louder as Higgins stepped to the microphone, newly elected as town’s subsequent mayor.
“Neatly, we did it!” she exclaimed, drawing any other spherical of applause.
Higgins framed the night time as a turning level for Miami and reminded supporters that the birthday celebration used to be additionally a choice to motion.
“This is not only a birthday celebration but additionally a promise as a result of Miami is dealing with actual demanding situations and this night marks the start of the paintings forward,” Higgins stated.
She pledged to transport Miami ahead.
“Not more never-ending delays for households seeking to repair a house or small industry seeking to open,” Higgins stated. “We will be able to reduce crimson tape, restore what is damaged, and modernize Town Corridor. We will be able to confront the affordability disaster with the urgency Miami households want. We will be able to make our streets more secure through supporting legislation enforcement and strengthening group partnerships. We will be able to give protection to Biscayne Bay.”
Joe Raedle / Getty Pictures 
Her imaginative and prescient used to be inclusive.
“We will be able to lead a metropolis that belongs to everybody,” she stated to cheers.
“A metropolis the place seniors can keep, more youthful other people can construct a long run, immigrants really feel welcome and revered,” she added, as the group roared once more.
Higgins additionally struck a conciliatory tone, noting she had spoken along with her opponent.
“I simply spoke with my opponent Emilio Gonzalez, a just right guy that I have identified for plenty of, a few years and really recognize,” Higgins stated. “He cares about our group; that’s what unites us.”
Distinguished Miami figures joined Higgins on the birthday celebration, together with Miami-Dade Mayor Daniela Levine Cava, Miami Police Leader Manny Morales, County Commissioner Oliver Gilbert III, Opa-locka Mayor John Taylor, and Florida Democratic Celebration Chair Nikki Fried, underscoring the historical nature of Higgins’ win.
Gonzalez concedes, displays on lawsuit
Ahead of turning in his concession speech, Gonzalez known as Higgins immediately.
“We recognize you, and we can provide you with the entire latitude you wish to have to do good stuff,” Gonzalez informed her.
Whilst he conceded, Gonzalez said the felony struggle that made Tuesday’s vote imaginable. His lawsuit, filed in July 2025, challenged the Town of Miami’s choice to put off the mayoral election till 2026.
Requested Tuesday if he felt the lawsuit used to be price it, Gonzalez answered: “Completely, pay attention, call to mind the irony. I filed a lawsuit to have an election that I participated in and misplaced. Ok? That are supposed to let you know that it is a lot larger than me.”
He had argued the postponement used to be unconstitutional and disenfranchised electorate, pronouncing simplest the voters had the authority to modify the date. A pass judgement on agreed, ruling town’s vote to lengthen used to be void and unconstitutional. That call ensured the election went ahead in 2025, in the long run resulting in the runoff between Gonzalez and Higgins.
What is subsequent?
Higgins will take administrative center with a mandate to deal with housing affordability, local weather resilience, and executive transparency. Her win indicators a shift in Miami’s political panorama and units the level for vital coverage adjustments within the years forward.
