Miami mayoral election results: What we know about Eileen Higgins’ win

Miami voters connected Tuesday elected Democrat Eileen Higgins arsenic mayor, ending a astir three-decade adust spell for her enactment aft she defeated a Republican endorsed by Donald Trump successful the predominantly Hispanic city.

While the predetermination was officially nonpartisan, the contention took connected nationalist significance, pitting Higgins against Republican Emilio Gonzalez, a erstwhile Miami metropolis manager, successful a contention intimately watched by some parties.

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• list 1 of 1Democrat Eileen Higgins wins Miami mayoral election, defeats Trump’s pick

The triumph comes successful the aftermath of caller electoral occurrence achieved by the Democratic Party up of adjacent year’s midterm elections.

Here is what we know:

What were the last results of the Miami election?

Higgins led Republican Gonzalez 59 percent to 41 percent connected Tuesday night, according to preliminary results from the Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections Office. She is the archetypal pistillate ever elected arsenic politician successful the city.

She won Tuesday’s run-off aft starring the archetypal circular of voting connected November 4 with 35 percent of the ballot to Gonzalez’s 19 percent.

“Tonight, the radical of Miami made history,” Higgins said successful a statement. “Together, we turned the leafage connected years of chaos and corruption and opened the doorway to a caller epoch for our city.”

Higgins’ triumph adds to a tally of caller Democratic wins, including races successful New Jersey and Virginia, arsenic the enactment looks towards the 2026 midterms. That inclination continued with beardown results successful November’s off-year elections and a coagulated showing successful this month’s peculiar House contention in Tennessee.

While Miami’s politician wields constricted ceremonial power, the relation is highly symbolic, representing a metropolis with a ample Latino colonisation astatine the centre of nationalist migration debates.

Home to astir fractional a cardinal residents, Miami is Florida’s second-most populous metropolis aft Jacksonville. In caller predetermination cycles, it has shifted towards Republicans, making a Democratic triumph basal retired adjacent more. Trump had won Miami-Dade County successful the 2024 statesmanlike predetermination against her Democratic rival Kamala Harris.

Hispanic oregon Latino residents marque up astir 70 percent of Miami’s population. In Miami-Dade County overall, about 69–70 percent of residents place arsenic Hispanic oregon Latino – a demographic bulk that importantly shapes the region’s taste and governmental identity.

Miami Mayor

Fully reported unofficial results:
🔵 Eileen Higgins – 21,550 (59.3%)
🔴 Emilio Gonzalez – 14,799 (40.7%)

⬅️ 19% plaything near from the 2024 statesmanlike predetermination pic.twitter.com/nwnrCnn7Gr

— VoteHub (@VoteHub) December 10, 2025

What are immoderate of the cardinal issues of this campaign?

Immigration was a cardinal contented successful Higgins’ campaign.

In Miami, she often talked astir Donald Trump’s migration crackdown, saying she heard from residents who were disquieted astir household members being detained. She described the predetermination arsenic a referendum connected the president’s policies, which person caused concerns astir owed process.

More than 200,000 radical person been arrested since Trump launched the crackdown connected migrants successful January. At slightest 75,000 people, who were arrested arsenic portion of Trump’s combat against pack members and criminals, had nary transgression records, according to caller data. He has deported hundreds of migrants and halted asylum and greenish paper applications.

The Trump medication had besides ordered the apprehension of respective students who participated successful protests against Israel’s genocidal warfare connected Gaza. Several of them person since been released by the courts.

The quality betwixt the candidates was wide during a statement past month. Higgins called migration enforcement successful Miami “cruel and inhumane” and criticised the detention centre opened by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, commonly known arsenic “Alligator Alcatraz”.

In that aforesaid debate, her opponent, Gonzalez, said helium supported national instrumentality enforcement rounding up “people who perpetrate crimes”.

“I enactment putting down migrant criminals, I cannot successful bully conscience combat with the national authorities and support a rapist oregon a murderer,” Gonzalez added.

This operation of images shows candidates for politician of Miami, from left, Republican Emilio Gonzalez and Democrat Eileen Higgins [AP]

Higgins repeated her connection successful an interrogation with El Pais this week, drafting a crisp opposition with Trump’s approach.

“He and I person precise antithetic points of presumption connected however we should dainty our residents, galore of whom are immigrants,” she said.

“That is the spot of this community. We are an immigrant-based place. That’s our uniqueness. That’s what makes america special.”

Affordability was besides a large contented successful the race. Higgins focused her run connected section concerns specified arsenic lodging costs, portion Gonzalez campaigned connected repealing Miami’s homestead spot taxation and streamlining concern permits.

“My hostile is keen connected building, building, building,” Gonzalez told CNN. “She wants to enactment a skyscraper successful each country … past calling it affordable housing, which is simply a misnomer, due to the fact that precise seldom is it genuinely affordable.”

During a code successful Pennsylvania connected Tuesday, Trump raised the contented of affordability, which Democrats person highlighted. He blamed precocious prices connected his predecessor, Joe Biden.

The outgo of surviving has been connected the predetermination run docket successful caller gubernatorial and mayoral elections successful which Democrats person made gains, including the much-publicised New York mayoral election. The Democratic wins amusement that the contented has resonated with voters.

🚨Miami polls are present OPEN!🚨

Time to VOTE and bring a caller epoch of bully governance, existent affordability, and putting families archetypal implicit peculiar interests.

Let’s go, Miami! 🇺🇸🌴 pic.twitter.com/AHVCIohCFj

— Emilio T. Gonzalez for Mayor of Miami (@Emilioformiami) December 9, 2025

Who is Eileen Higgins?

Higgins is Miami’s archetypal non-Hispanic politician successful astir 3 decades. Born successful Ohio and raised successful Albuquerque, New Mexico, she earned a Bachelor of Science successful mechanical engineering from the University of New Mexico and aboriginal completed an MBA astatine Cornell University.

Before becoming mayor, Higgins represented a politically blimpish territory that includes Little Havana, the city’s well-known Cuban enclave.

She has embraced the nickname “La Gringa,” a word commonly utilized successful Spanish to notation to achromatic Americans.

Her nonrecreational inheritance spans planetary improvement and consulting, with a absorption connected infrastructure and proscription projects crossed Latin America. She aboriginal served arsenic Peace Corps state manager successful Belize and went connected to enactment arsenic a overseas work serviceman for the United States Department of State, wherever her portfolio included diplomatic and economical improvement efforts successful countries specified arsenic Mexico and South Africa.

After her authorities service, Higgins returned to the backstage assemblage earlier yet entering section authorities successful Miami.

With her runoff triumph tonight, Eileen Higgins volition beryllium Miami's adjacent mayor—the archetypal pistillate successful the city’s past and the archetypal Democrat successful astir 30 years elected to the office.

Congrats, Mayor-elect! pic.twitter.com/lSyZ087Xvc

— Democrats (@TheDemocrats) December 10, 2025