![\"Miami](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/MIA_0269AD2025-12-09EMILIOGONZALEZELECTIONNIGHT.JPG\" "\\"Miami")
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Miami mayoral candidate Emilio Gonz\u00e1lez concedes the election to Eileen Higgins while speaking to supporters during an election night watch party at Meraki Greek Bistro in Miami on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025.<\/p>\n
PHOTO BY AL DIAZ<\/p>\n
adiaz@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n
The city of Miami plans to make a six-figure payout to cover attorneys\u2019 fees for a former mayoral candidate, following his lawsuit challenging the city\u2019s attempt to delay the 2025 election to 2026.<\/p>\n
Last year, the courts ruled in favor of Emilio Gonz\u00e1lez, a candidate for mayor who went on to lose a December runoff election to Eileen Higgins.<\/p>\n
Next week, the Miami City Commission is slated to vote to approve<\/a> a $150,000 payment to the law firm that represented Gonz\u00e1lez in his lawsuit against the city. The payment, described as a settlement offer, covers \u201cappellate attorney\u2019s fees and taxable trial and appellate costs.\u201d<\/p>\n Last summer, Gonz\u00e1lez sued the city after the Miami City Commission passed an ordinance<\/a> that moved the city\u2019s elections from odd to even years. The change postponed the November 2025 election to 2026 and gave the city\u2019s elected officials an extra year in office, including those who would have otherwise been termed out.<\/p>\n Gonz\u00e1lez, who was already a declared candidate at that time, filed the lawsuit and asked the court to find the city\u2019s ordinance \u201cunlawful and invalid.\u201d<\/p>\n In July<\/a>, a Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge sided with Gonz\u00e1lez, ruling that the city\u2019s ordinance moving the election without voter approval violated the Florida Constitution.<\/p>\n The city appealed that ruling, landing the parties in a hearing before Florida\u2019s Third District Court of Appeal. The appeals court sided with the Circuit Court judge<\/a>, concurring that the city\u2019s move was \u201cunconstitutional.\u201d The city then asked for a rehearing before the entire appellate court, but that request was denied<\/a>.<\/p>\n The situation became highly politicized<\/a>, with Gov. Ron DeSantis publicly condemning the city\u2019s efforts to postpone the election. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier issued an opinion<\/a> two weeks before the commission\u2019s final vote on the ordinance, saying the city of Miami didn\u2019t have the legal authority to move its election date without voter approval.<\/p>\n After two courts blocked the city\u2019s efforts, the November 2025 election proceeded as initially planned.<\/p>\n Gonz\u00e1lez was one of 13 candidates for mayor. He placed second in the November general election. Higgins placed first but failed to secure more than 50% of the vote, sending her and Gonz\u00e1lez to a December runoff.<\/p>\n Higgins prevailed 59% to 41% in the runoff, becoming the city\u2019s first Democrat mayor in decades and also Miami\u2019s first woman mayor.<\/p>\n Renewed efforts to move to even-year elections<\/p>\n While on the campaign trail, Higgins pledged that she would seek to shorten her term as mayor so the city could more quickly move to even-year elections, if that\u2019s what voters want. In addition to the Gonz\u00e1lez payment, the City Commission next week is slated to vote on a proposal from Higgins<\/a> to have her term end in 2028 instead of 2029.<\/p>\n If the commission gives the green light, one more commission vote would be needed to send the proposal to the August 2026 ballot, where voters would decide whether to reduce Higgins\u2019 term.<\/p>\n Higgins\u2019 proposal is separate from the latest effort spearheaded by Commissioner Damian Pardo to switch to even-year elections.<\/p>\n Pardo was the sponsor of last year\u2019s ordinance that switched to even-year elections without voter approval. Former Mayor Francis Suarez joined Pardo<\/a> in championing that effort.<\/p>\n