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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tRunoff night 2025: A triumphant Eileen Higgins, Miami’s first woman mayor, greets supporters at the Miami Women’s Club.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tRunoff night 2025: A triumphant Eileen Higgins, Miami’s first woman mayor, greets supporters at the Miami Women’s Club.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Photo by Joe Raedle\/Getty Images<\/a><\/p>\n Famous as the only major U.S. city founded by a woman, Miami elected its first woman<\/a> to run the Magic City on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Eileen Higgins became the first Democrat to win the mayor\u2019s seat in nearly three decades by defeating Emilio Gonz\u00e1lez, who had the backing of President Donald Trump, with 59 percent of the vote. Many likely recognized Gonz\u00e1lez from his two decades in politics, including stints as director of immigration services under George W. Bush and city manager of Miami. But Higgins is a relatively new face in South Florida politics, winning her first seat in 2018.<\/p>\n So many are likely wondering, who is mayor-elect Eileen Higgins?<\/p>\n Early Life<\/p>\n Higgins, 61, was born in Dayton, Ohio, but raised in New Mexico. She reportedly relocated to Miami in the early 2000s after earning a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of New Mexico and an MBA from Cornell University.<\/p>\n Political Background<\/p>\n She won a special election in 2018 to fill a Miami-Dade County Commission seat vacated by Commissioner Bruno Barreiro and won two subsequent elections in 2022 and 2024. Representing a conservative-leaning district that includes Little Havana, Higgins leaned into the nickname \u201cLa Gringa,\u201d the Spanish shorthand for a white American. Higgins served on the commission for seven years before resigning ahead of the mayoral election.<\/p>\n As commissioner, Higgins says she invested nearly $3 million in grants for hundreds of small businesses and has created or planned nearly 7,000 affordable housing units in the county. <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tThis year, make your gift count \u2013 \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOur work is funded by readers like you who make voluntary gifts because they value our work and want to see it continue. Make a contribution today to help us reach our $30,000 goal!\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Professional Background<\/p>\n Before shifting into marketing and later politics in the United States, she spent years abroad on development projects in Latin America, led the Peace Corps operation in Belize, and served as a foreign service officer with the U.S. Department of State.<\/p>\n She \u201cwas blessed to live in Belize as the Peace Corps Country Director,\u201d Higgins wrote on her blog<\/a>. She later transferred to Mexico and focused on programs aimed at reducing violence and identifying solutions to climate change.<\/p>\n According to her LinkedIn<\/a>, Higgins led the implementation of the U.S.\u2019s first nationwide AI policy framework. She routinely testifies before Congress for policy perspectives on panels held by institutions like the Brookings Institute, Accelerator for America, the Kresge Foundation, and Harvard University.<\/p>\n Plans for Miami<\/p>\n
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