Miami in political crosshairs: Democrat hunts historic upset against Trump-backed candidate
Voters in Miami, Florida, cast ballots Tuesday in a runoff election for mayor in a race that's grabbed plenty of national attention in recent weeks as Democrats aim to end...
By Fox News · Fox News
Voters in Miami, Florida, cast ballots Tuesday in a runoff election for mayor in a race that's grabbed plenty of national attention in recent weeks as Democrats aim to end a decades-long losing streak in red-leaning Florida. Democrat Eileen Higgins, a former county commissioner, is facing off against Republican Emilio Gonzalez, a former city manager backed by President Donald Trump. While the election is technically nonpartisan, the ballot box face-off has become the latest showdown this year between Democrats and Republicans, with both parties pouring in resources. And Democrats, energized by last month's decisive 2025 election victories and by last week's double-digit overperformance in a special election in a red-leaning congressional district in Tennessee, are aiming for victory in Miami for an office they haven't held in 30 years. MIAMI MAYORAL CANDIDATE REVEALS HOW HE WILL FLIP SCRIPT ON DEM RIVAL'S 'CITY OF RENTERS' STRATEGY The Democratic National Committee (DNC) and allied groups have invested in the race. DNC Chair Kent Martin told Fox News Digital that following last week's "historic overperformance in Tennessee and the record Democratic momentum across the country this year," the DNC is now "laser focused" on Miami's mayoral runoff. "The energy is on Democrats’ side and the DNC is all-in support of Eileen Higgins from now until Election Day," Martin emphasized in a statement to Fox News Digital last week. CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON THE 2025 ELECTIONS Meanwhile, the Republican Party of Florida has been helping Gonzalez. And Trump, over the weekend, took to social media to try and boost Gonzalez. "Miami’s Mayor Race is Tuesday. It is a big and important race!!! Vote for Republican Gonzalez," the president wrote. Florida was once the largest of the general election battleground states, but has shifted dramatically to the right over the past decade. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis won re-election by nearly 20 points in 2022, and Trump carried…