After Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani’s recent win, US President Donald Trump suffered yet another electoral setback in Miami, Florida, where the Republican candidate he endorsed in the Mayoral polls lost to a Democrat.
Democrat Eileen Higgins won the Miami mayor’s race on Tuesday, defeating Republican Emilio Gonzalez, the Trump-endorsed candidate, by about 19 percentage points. Higgins’s win also ends the nearly three-decade-long winning streak of the Republicans in Mayoral elections in Miami. The last time a Democrat held the city’s mayoral position was a brief term by Xavier Suarez that ended in 1998.
The 61-year-old is also the first woman to be elected Mayor of Miami.
Who is Eileen Higgins?
Higgins, who previously served as the Miami-Dade County Commissioner for District 5 from 2018 to November 2025, is an engineer by qualification. Apart from a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the University of New Mexico, Higgins also holds an MBA from Cornell University.
Before venturing into politics, Higgins worked in international development and consulting, serving as a Peace Corps country director in Belize and working as a foreign service officer for the US Department of State.
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A Spanish speaker herself, Higgins proudly wears the label of “La Gringa,” a term Spanish speakers use for white Americans.
Despite her being white, Higgins found acceptance among the politically conservative-leaning Cuban enclave of Little Havana, where she served as the Miami-Dade County Commissioner for District 5.
Ahead of the elections, her opponent, Gonzalez, was endorsed by Republican heavyweights, including Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
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Higgins, on the other hand, was endorsed by Democrats including former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Several Other Democrats, including Senator Ruben Gallego and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, travelled to Miami on Sunday and Monday to rally voters for Higgins.
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Eileen Higgins’s campaign promises
Higgins campaigned on a platform of restoring trust in City Hall and focusing on practical solutions for residents’ everyday concerns. Her pitch to voters included finding city-owned land that could be turned into affordable housing and cutting unnecessary spending.
She also spoke frequently in the Hispanic-majority city about Trump’s immigration crackdown, saying she has heard of many people in Miami who were worried about family members being detained.
She campaigned as a proud Democrat despite the race being officially nonpartisan.
“We are facing rhetoric from elected officials that is so dehumanizing and cruel, especially against immigrant populations,” Higgins told The Associated Press after her victory speech.
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“The residents of Miami were ready to be done with that,” she said.
Democrats get another win ahead of 2026 mid-terms
The mayoral position in Miami is more ceremonial, but Higgins promised to execute it like a full-time job. The city is part of Miami-Dade County, which Trump flipped last year, a dramatic improvement from his 30 percentage point loss to Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016. As Florida’s second-largest city, Miami is considered the gateway to Latin America and attracts millions of tourists. Its global prominence gives Higgins a significant stage as mayor.
While Higgins’s win does not have immediate national ramifications, it is expected to give the Democrats some momentum heading into a high-stakes midterm election in 2026.
Her victory is yet another indication that Hispanics, who were crucial in Trump being re-elected in 2024, may have started distancing from Republicans, due to the ongoing crackdown on immigrants, which has overwhelmingly affected the community.
