Democrat Eileen Higgins won the second round for mayor of Miamiby winning almost 60% of the votes over Cuban-American Emilio González, former city administrator and candidate supported by the president donald trump.
Preliminary results confirmed a wide margin in favor of Higginswhose victory sparked celebrations at the Miami Woman’s Club, where supporters chanted “Eileen!” and “Madam Mayor!” between music by Stevie Wonder.
“We did it! History was made tonight,” Higgins said as she took the stage surrounded by family and followers, she said. The New Herald.
At 61 years old and originally from New Mexico, the winner becomes the first woman, first non-Hispanic and first Democrat to serve as mayor of the city in decades.
The former Miami-Dade commissioner confirmed that she had spoken by phone with González after conceding defeat, whom she defined as “a good man.”
#BreakingMinute Democrat Eileen Higgins wins Miami mayoralty and defeats Trump’s candidate https://t.co/X8MGRYVETz
— el Nuevo Herald (@elnuevoherald) December 10, 2025
Eileen Higgins makes history in Miami
Meanwhile, at González’s campaign headquarters, about a hundred people gathered at the Greek restaurant Meraki, where the candidate appeared animated before the polls closed, although aware of an adverse result.
Upon acknowledging his defeat, he assured that he had told Higgins: “We are going to support you,” and defended his campaign as a platform to denounce corruption in the Miami government. “It has been the experience of my life,” he said.
Although the mayor’s office in Miami is officially nonpartisan, the race took on strong political weight after Republicans such as Trump, Governor Ron DeSantis and Senator Ted Cruz endorsed González.
In response, the Democratic National Committee mobilized resources in favor of Higginswho also received endorsements from Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Congresswoman Frederica Wilson.
BREAKING: The city of Miami has elected its first Democratic mayor in nearly three decades, with Eileen Higgins defeating former city manager and President Donald Trump-endorsed Emilio González.pic.twitter.com/krgZAaXsDm
— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) December 10, 2025
Miami heading to the legislative elections
The election attracted national attention as it was considered a potential political thermometer towards the 2026 legislative elections, he said. The New Herald.
Miami, although nestled in a county where the balance tilted toward Republicans in 2024 for the first time in 36 years, voted for Democrat Kamala Harris by a narrow 50% margin over Trump’s 49%.
Higgins won his first election in 2018 to the Miami-Dade County Commissiondriven by local rejection of Trump and a campaign in which he took advantage of his fluency in Spanish under the nickname “La Gringa.”
After winning reelection in 2022, he left his seat to run for mayor and once again entrusted his strategy to Christian Ulvert, the consultant behind his previous victories and Levine Cava’s campaign in 2020.
For his part, González came to the race with experience as a city administrator under outgoing Mayor Francis Suarez and as the county’s former aviation director.
In November he defeated two of his former colleagues, Joe Carollo and Alex Díaz de la Portilla, in an election marked by tensions and internal disputes.
He justified his resignation from office in 2023, after tough confrontations with the Commission, by describing the meetings as “a circus.”
In the opinion of cnnHiggins’ victory injects enthusiasm into the Democratic Party at the start of 2026.
The city of Miami will now have two women at the head of its governments: Higgins as mayor of the city and Daniella Levine Cava as mayor of the entire county.
