Miami made history Tuesday night when voters elected Eileen Higgins as the city's first woman mayor while simultaneously ending 28 consecutive years of Republican control of City Hall. In a decisive runoff election, Higgins captured 59 percent of the vote against Republican Emilio González, who had secured endorsements from President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

The victory marks a stunning political reversal in a city that hasn't elected a Democratic mayor since 1997, and represents a significant blow to Trump's political influence just months before the 2026 midterm elections. González conceded defeat Tuesday night despite the high-profile Republican backing, acknowledging that the election was "much bigger than me".​

A Triple Historic First

Higgins' win breaks barriers on multiple fronts. At 61, she becomes not only Miami's first female mayor in the city's nearly 130-year history, but also its first non-Hispanic mayor since the 1990s—a remarkable achievement in a city where Cuban American Republicans have dominated politics for three decades. Her election also ends the longest Republican mayoral streak in any major Florida city.​

The race drew national attention precisely because it defied Florida's recent political trajectory. While Trump carried Miami-Dade County by 11 points in the 2024 presidential election, he narrowly lost the city of Miami itself—a detail that proved crucial to Higgins' strategy. She dominated all five of Miami's commission districts in the first round of voting back in November, securing 36 percent against a crowded field of 13 candidates.​

What made this upset possible? Higgins outspent González on television advertising and leveraged her eight years as a Miami-Dade County commissioner representing downtown Miami, giving her name recognition and a proven track record. She also received support from national Democratic figures including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Senator Ruben Gallego, and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.​

The Campaign: Housing, Chaos, and Competence

Both candidates ran on anti-corruption platforms, addressing years of political scandals that have plagued Miami City Hall. But Higgins centered her message on concrete issues that resonated with voters struggling under Miami's crushing affordability crisis.​

Housing dominated the campaign for good reason. Miami ranks as the least affordable metro area for homebuyers in the entire nation, with fewer than one in 200 homes on the market within reach of a typical household earning the median income. Approximately 38 percent of Miami-area residents are "rent burdened," the highest rate among the 50 largest U.S. metro areas. By 2019, more than half of Miami households were spending over 30 percent of their income on housing, and homeownership was out of reach for 90 percent of the working population.​

Higgins campaigned on her record of planning or creating nearly 7,000 affordable and workforce housing units as a county commissioner, along with investing $3 million in grants for hundreds of small businesses. She promised to "cut through red tape" at City Hall, streamline the city's notoriously slow permitting process, expand trolley service, and invest in climate resilience.​

González, a former Miami city manager, focused on reducing property taxes, increasing police presence, and also reforming the permitting system. But his message struggled to break through once Trump and DeSantis made the race a referendum on national politics. Trump's endorsement two days before the election urged Miami residents to vote for González, promising he would "fight tirelessly to Grow the Economy, Cut Taxes and Regulations" and "Stop Migrant Crime".​

Instead, voters chose Higgins' message of "competence over chaos, results over excuses".​

Why This Matters Beyond Miami

The implications of Higgins' victory extend far beyond local governance. Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin framed the result as a "warning sign to Republicans that voters are fed up with their out-of-touch agenda that is raising costs for working families". House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries celebrated Higgins for "defeating Donald Trump's candidate".​

Republicans quickly moved to downplay the significance. Florida GOP Chair Evan Power dismissed it as "fool's gold" for Democrats, noting that Miami "leans D" and pointing to Republican victories in concurrent state Senate special elections. Miami-Dade County GOP chair Kevin Cooper insisted the race was "not a rebuke of the president or the party," arguing that a "Democratic city elects Democratic mayor".​

But the numbers tell a more complex story. Miami is technically a nonpartisan mayoral race, and Trump did carry the broader Miami-Dade County decisively. Yet Higgins won in a landslide despite facing the full weight of the Republican establishment. DNC finance chair Chris Korge cut through the spin: "Trump and González made it into a national race, and they got clobbered".​

For Democrats, the victory offers a blueprint for competing in diverse, expensive urban centers where affordability trumps partisan loyalty. Higgins emphasized local solutions over national Democratic talking points, telling CBS News she would work with the Trump administration where possible but "make my voice heard" when they disagree.​

For Republicans, the loss raises uncomfortable questions about Trump's diminishing pull in local races and whether Florida remains as solidly red as recent elections suggest. Coming just months before crucial midterm elections, the defeat adds pressure on a party already defending narrow congressional majorities.

The Path Forward: Can Higgins Deliver?

Higgins inherits a city in crisis. She replaces Francis Suarez, a Republican who left office "millions of dollars richer than when he arrived in 2018" and briefly ran for the Republican presidential nomination. The new mayor must address not just housing affordability, but climate resilience in a city threatened by rising seas, infrastructure needs including transit expansion, and restoring trust in a government tarnished by scandals.​

Her professional background suggests she's prepared for the complexity. Higgins holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of New Mexico and an MBA from Cornell. She spent years working on infrastructure and transportation projects across Latin America, served as Peace Corps country director in Belize, and worked as a U.S. State Department foreign service officer on economic development initiatives in Mexico and South Africa.​

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava—herself a Democrat leading a nonpartisan office—pledged to work alongside Higgins and declared that voters "sent a clear message that they are tired of chaos, corruption and rising costs".​

The Argument Worth Having

Higgins' victory forces a necessary debate about what voters actually want when economic pressures overwhelm partisan identity. Did Miami voters reject Trump and the GOP, or did they simply choose the candidate who focused on fixing potholes, speeding up permits, and building affordable housing over the one promising to fight "migrant crime" and advance Trump's national agenda?

The answer probably depends on whether Higgins can deliver. If she succeeds in making housing more affordable and City Hall more functional, Democrats can claim urban voters reward competent governance over ideological alignment. If she fails, Republicans can argue Miami made an isolated mistake that proves nothing about 2026.

For now, history records that Miami—a city that hasn't elected a woman mayor in 130 years or a Democratic mayor in 28—chose both on the same night, rejecting a candidate backed by the president and governor to bet on someone promising to get things done.