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Trump had endorsed the Republican candidate.
Miami’s mayoral race, usually a quiet local affair, drew rare national focus this year as voters in a heavily Hispanic city at the center of Donald Trump’s Florida base headed to the polls.
Within an hour of voting ending, CNN and the Associated Press projected Democrat Eileen Higgins as the clear winner.
Her margin over Republican contender Emilio Gonzalez signaled a sharp shift, arriving just weeks after Democrats posted a series of statewide and local gains across the country.
Historic milestone
According to Reuters, her win ends a nearly 30-year absence of Democrats from Miami’s mayoral office.
The last was Xavier Suarez in 1997, father of outgoing Republican Mayor Francis Suarez.
Higgins also becomes the city’s first woman and first non-Hispanic mayor since the 1990s.
Miami, home to roughly 487,000 residents, moved toward a runoff after Higgins led the November 4 first round with 36%, ahead of Gonzalez, a former city manager and retired U.S. Army colonel, who secured 18%.
National spotlight
The race took on added weight after Trump endorsed Gonzalez on November 17 through Truth Social.
The Democratic National Committee and several high-profile Democrats, including U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, backed Higgins.
Still, analysts caution against overstating national patterns. Miami-Dade elected another Democratic non-Hispanic woman, Daniella Levine Cava, in 2020 and re-elected her last year despite Trump winning the county.
All eyes on the Midterms
The Midterms are scheduled to be held Nov 3. 2026, and analysts are already discussing how the U.S. Congress will look after the ballots are cast.
Right now, the Republicans hold both the House and the Senate, but with a thin margine.
In the Senate, Republicans hold 53 seats agsinst the 45 Democratic and 2 independent.
In the House, Republicans hold 220 seats against to Democrats 213 (two are vacant).
According to Ballotpedia, 33 seats in the Senate will be up for election at the Midterms with another two up for special elections. Of those, Democrats currently hold 13 and the Republicans hold 20.
In the House all 435 districts are up for election.
Sources: CNN, Associated Press, Miami Herald, Ballotpedia, Reuters
