Miami, the iron fisted stronghold of the Republican Party in the United States, welcomes its first Democratic mayor in nearly 30 years

Democratic candidate Eileen Higgins defeated a Republican rival endorsed by President Donald Trump, becoming the first Democrat to be elected mayor of Miami in nearly 30 years.

According to Reuters, the Miami mayoral runoff election was held on Tuesday (December 9). CNN projected Higgins as the winner less than an hour after polls closed, as preliminary vote counts showed the former Miami-Dade County commissioner leading Republican opponent Emilio Gonzalez by a landslide margin of 18 percentage points.

In the first round of voting on November 4, Higgins emerged as the frontrunner among a crowded field of candidates, securing 36% of the votes to claim the top spot; Gonzalez came in second with 18% of the ballots.

Located in Florida, Miami is a longtime stronghold for Trump and a predominantly Latino city.

What was originally a local election that would not have garnered national attention has this year been elevated to a high-profile contest, serving as a crucial test of voter sentiment in Trump’s political backyard.

Higgins’ decisive victory further consolidated the Democratic Party’s momentum from its sweeping success in a series of local elections last month. It dimmed Republican hopes of maintaining their grip on Congress in the 2026 midterm elections, while also amplifying GOP concerns over whether Trump has lost the support of Hispanic voters.

The 61-year-old Higgins described her win in a Facebook post as "turning the page on years of chaos and corruption". She is the first Democrat to win the Miami mayoral race since 1997, the first female mayor of Miami, and the first non-Hispanic mayor since the 1990s.

The Miami Herald reported that many traditionally left-leaning Hispanic voters switched their support to Trump in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, with Trump winning 55% of the vote in Miami-Dade County. Tuesday’s election results indicated a decline in Republican strength in the county.