With low voter turnout and in an environment marked by political scandals, concentration of power, and profound demographic changes, Miami went to the polls this Tuesday to elect its next mayor.
However, no candidate reached the 50% needed to win outright, so the race will be decided in a runoff election on December 9. The contest is between Eileen Higgins, Miami-Dade County Commissioner, who garnered 36% of the vote; and Emilio González, former city manager, who received 19.5%. Both surpassed the other 11 candidates, including Ken Russell, who came in third with 17.5%. Only 21% of the more than 175,000 registered voters cast their ballots, according to the Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections office.
The Miami mayoral race is officially nonpartisan, but it comes against the backdrop of Miami-Dade County’s Republican shift in the 2024 presidential election, after years as a Democratic stronghold. The city of Miami, however, narrowly remained Democratic, with 50% of the vote going to Kamala Harris and 49% to Donald Trump. The Democratic Party has dubbed González—who received endorsements from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Senator Rick Scott, both Republicans—”the MAGA mayor.”
The Republican Party, meanwhile, has compared Democrat Higgins to New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, possibly in an attempt to create a negative perception among exile communities. Miami has not had a Democratic mayor in decades.
Thirteen candidates—including members of families with long histories in local politics—ran for mayor of the city. Along with the two who will advance to the second round, the ballot is completed by Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo, former Commissioner Alex Díaz de la Portilla, Christian Cevallos, Alyssa Crocker, June Savage, Laura Anderson, Elijah John Bowdre, K. James DeSantis (no relation to the governor), Michael A. Hepburn, Ken Russell, and Xavier Suarez, former commissioner and father of current Mayor Francis Suarez.
Eileen Higgins represents District 5 of the county, which includes well-known areas such as Brickell, Little Havana, and the Miami River area. She is a graduate of the University of New Mexico and Cornell University and has worked as an engineer and marketing executive. If she wins, she would be the first woman to hold the position of mayor of the city.
Emilio González, for his part, directed the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) during the George W. Bush administration. He graduated from the University of Florida and had a military career. He served as city manager from 2018 to 2020, when he resigned following accusations that he used his position to alter documents and obtain a permit for his home. González denied the allegations, stating that he was resigning to care for his ailing wife. The City Ethics Commission cleared him of the charges.
With half a million residents, Miami is just one of 34 municipalities in Miami-Dade County, home to nearly three million people. All of them operate independently from the county. Municipal elections were also held this Tuesday in Hialeah, Miami Beach, Homestead, and Surfside.
