Why It Matters<\/p>\n
Florida has largely swung red in recent decades, but Miami has been seen as bluer, being home to many immigrant communities. That has changed in the past few years, with President Donald Trump seeing gains among those communities in the 2024 presidential election.<\/p>\n
Tuesday\u2019s result could be seen as a warning sign for Trump going into the 2026 midterms.<\/p>\n
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Eileen Higgins Elected Mayor of Miami<\/p>\n
Higgins won the race Tuesday night, according to the Associated Press, after the two candidates beat 11 others on election day on November 4.<\/p>\n
In the November 4 race, Higgins secured 36 percent of the vote, and Gonz\u00e1lez, who came in second, won 19 percent.<\/p>\n
DNC Chair Ken Martin in a released statement to Newsweek on Tuesday: “Mayor-elect Eileen Higgins\u2019 win is a testament to what Democrats can accomplish when we organize and compete everywhere, including in Miami, where Democrats have now flipped a seat that was in Republicans\u2019 hands for nearly 30 years. While her opponent was ready to rubber-stamp Donald Trump\u2019s inflationary agenda, Higgins remained laser-focused on lowering costs and improving the lives of Miami families. Tonight\u2019s result is yet another warning sign to Republicans that voters are fed up with their out-of-touch agenda that is raising costs for working families across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
What Did the Polls Show?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ahead of Tuesday\u2019s vote, betting platform Polymarket had Higgins, who campaigned on providing affordable housing, with a 94 percent chance of winning the election while Gonz\u00e1lez, who worked as a director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) under former President George W. Bush, had a 6 percent chance.<\/p>\n
An APL Consulting poll of 307 voters found that Higgins had 34 percent of the vote and Gonzalez had 31 percent. This poll, conducted between November 21 and 24 on behalf of Mission Miami, a political committee backing Gonzalez’s campaign, had a margin of error of +\/- 5.9 percentage points.<\/p>\n
According to an MDW Communications poll of 307 likely voters, 49.84 percent said they would vote for Higgins while 23.78 percent planned to vote for Gonz\u00e1lez. However, this poll was conducted between October 14 and 18, before the November 4 election. It was also commissioned by Higgins’ political committee. The margin of error was 6 percentage points.<\/p>\n
How the Race Could Impact the\u00a02026 Midterms<\/p>\n