On December 9, 2025, Miami voted in its first Democratic mayor in three decades. The Mayor-elect Eileen Higgins won with about 59 percent of the votes, not only breaking the streak of republican leadership but also becoming Miami’s first female mayor. Her opponent, Emilio Gonzalez, had endorsements from President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, while she gained support from local Democratic leaders and national figures. Higgins’s winning campaign centered on affordable housing, improved city services, government transparency, and immigration policies. 

Higgins, 61, is a former Miami-Dade County commissioner and was the first non-Hispanic person to be elected into the position in decades. Born in Dayton, Ohio, and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of New Mexico and a Master of Business Administration from Cornell University. Higgins moved to Miami in the early 2000s, where she invested her time in international affairs. She oversaw infrastructure projects in Latin America, worked in the Peace Corps in Belize, and served as a foreign service officer for the Department of State.

After returning to the United States, Higgins worked for Pfizer before starting her political career. Throughout her political campaign, she emphasized restoring professionalism and responsiveness to local government. Before she takes office, she plans to assemble a transition team to signal an active start in office, and plans to begin implementing her initiatives during the first 100 days. She has assured that such initiatives will stand by her motto “competence over chaos”. As Miami’s newest mayor, she plans to earn the public’s trust and bring improvements to the city after being sworn into office.