Higgins defeated former municipal administrator Emilio González in the second round and makes history as the first woman to head the Miami Mayor’s Office, in addition to being the first Democrat to hold the position in almost 30 years.
MADRID, Spain.- Democrat Eileen Higgins He won the second round of the Miami mayoral elections this Tuesdaybecoming the first woman to hold the position and the first representative of her party elected to this position in almost 30 years.
According to preliminary official results released by the Office of the Supervisor of Elections of Miami-DadeHiggins obtained 59.29% of the votes, compared to the 40.71% achieved by former municipal administrator Emilio González. In total, 37,496 voters participated in the day, which represents a participation of 21.3% of the registry made up of 175,692 registered voters.
The race, officially non-partisan, was marked from the beginning by the contrast between the projects of both candidates. Higgins, a former two-term Miami-Dade County commissioner, pivoted her campaign toward affordable housing, modernizing municipal services and restoring public trust.
Who is Eileen Higgins?
Eileen Higgins, born in Dayton (Ohio) and raised in Albuquerque (New Mexico), is a Democratic politician with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA from Cornell University. His public career includes a period in the United States Department of State between 2009 and 2012, during the administration of Barack Obama. During that period, he first worked supporting the US Embassy in Mexico in areas related to energy, environment, climate change, law enforcement and trade, and later as an Economy and Energy officer for South Africa and Namibia.
From 2018 to November 2025, Higgins represented District 5 on the Miami-Dade County Commission, where he advanced policies aimed at affordable housing by reclaiming underutilized land and streamlining permitting processes. It also promoted urban mobility projects, including pedestrian corridors, monorails, and bus rapid transit (BRT) systems. Her tenure in the county solidified her profile as a prominent candidate for Miami mayor in 2025.
Proposals for your government agenda
During his events and debates, he highlighted the need for Miami to adopt “stable and collaborative” leadership, noting that the city’s accelerated growth has not been accompanied by equivalent improvements in infrastructure or institutional response capacity.
Among its central proposals is the use of municipal land to build housing for working families, as well as a comprehensive review of public spending. It also advocates updating regulations to allow permeable pavements and accelerating the construction of parks in order to improve drainage, in a context of increasing urban flooding. Another highlight of his platform is the expansion of the Municipal Commission, which currently has five members, to a total of nine to increase the representation of the different neighborhoods of the city.
Immigration occupied a relevant place during the campaign. Higgins expressed concern about recent local and federal operations, which he described as harmful to migrant communities. Although he stated that he will seek points of cooperation with the federal administration, he insisted that he will defend municipal autonomy when there are discrepancies regarding public policies.
In her speech celebrating the victory, accompanied by supporters and collaborators, she thanked the support received and affirmed that the electoral result marks the beginning of a new stage for the city. He noted that one of his first objectives will be to streamline municipal procedures, reduce bureaucracy and improve service to both families and small businesses.
Higgins’ victory marks a change in the political sign of the Mayor’s Office after almost three decades of Republican administrations. His administration will begin in a context marked by challenges in housing, infrastructure, cost of living and environmental management, issues that defined much of the electoral debate.
