Eileen Higgins Wins Miami Mayoral Runoff as First Female Mayor

Eileen Higgins, a Democrat and former Miami-Dade County commissioner, won the Miami mayoral runoff election on Tuesday, defeating Republican Emilio Gonzalez by nearly 20 percentage points and becoming the city's first female mayor as well as the first Democrat elected to the position in almost 30 years.

With all precincts reporting, Higgins secured a decisive victory in the nonpartisan race, which followed a November 4 general election where she received 36 percent of the vote to Gonzalez's 19 percent. The outcome marked a shift in a city that has been led by Republican mayors since 1996, including outgoing incumbent Francis Suarez. Turnout was low, with fewer than 13,000 Republican voters participating despite Gonzalez's high-profile endorsements from President Donald Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Senator Rick Scott. Trump had posted on Truth Social earlier that day, urging support for the "FANTASTIC!" candidate. Higgins, in contrast, drew backing from the Democratic National Committee and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

In her first post-election press conference on Wednesday, Higgins outlined priorities aimed at restoring order to City Hall, which...