Following decades of Republican, male leadership, Miami has elected Eileen Higgins – a Democrat, and a woman – to be its next mayor.
She was one of several candidates vying for the position, but on Election Day 2025, the former Miami-Dade County commissioner was chosen to advance to a run-off against Emilio T. González, a former Miami city manager. (Francis Suarez, the incumbent, could not run due to term limits.)
This past Tuesday, Higgins emerged victorious, winning nearly 60% of the vote to assume leadership of the roughly 500,000-strong city. “Miami … chose competence over chaos, results over excuses and a city government that finally works for you,” she said during her victory speech, Yahoo News reported, alluding in part to the numerous ethics inquiries and investigations plaguing Suarez.
“Together, we turned the page on years of … corruption and opened the door to a new era for our city — one defined by ethical, accountable leadership that delivers real results for the people,” Higgins, 61, added in a statement acknowledging her win to The New York Times.
The city’s significant immigrant population was front of mind for Higgins after the run-off, with her hypothesizing that fatigue over attacks on the community was a factor in her win. “We are facing rhetoric from elected officials that is so dehumanizing and cruel, especially against immigrant populations,” Higgins said to The Associated Press after her victory speech concluded. “The residents of Miami were ready to be done with that.”
For years though, Miami has skewed conservative, with registered Republican voters overtaking Democratic ones just this past May. That’s part of why Democrats in and beyond city limits are celebrating Higgins’ win, and the flip from red to blue that comes with it, as part of a broader bellwether.
Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin called her victory a “testament to what Democrats can accomplish when we organize and compete everywhere, including in Miami” while speaking with The Hill, adding that it’s “yet another warning sign to Republicans that voters are fed up with their out-of-touch agenda that is raising costs for working families across the country.”
Higgins’ focus is on Miami itself, however – and she brings years of infrastructure, economic and corporate marketing experience to her new job. A city resident since the early 2000s, she held a variety of outreach-oriented roles over the years: Managing transportation projects throughout Latin America, directing work for the Peace Corps in Belize, managing economic matters in Mexico and parts of South Africa as a foreign service officer for the U.S. Department of State, and elevating brands like healthcare giant Pfizer and beverage company Jose Cuervo.
In 2018, she became Miami–Dade County Commissioner in a special election, and was re-elected to the post in 2022 and 2024. Her mayoral campaign, launched earlier this year, centered on small businesses, public transit and climate-change mitigation as top priorities.
Though she is a Democrat, Higgins expressed to the Times her desire to serve all who live in Miami, regardless of their political affiliations. “If their streets are flooded, I want public works projects that stop that flooding. If they need affordable housing, I don’t ask what political party they are before we let them take over an apartment – they’re in need.”
