MIAMI (WSVN) - Miami Mayor-elect Eileen Higgins, the first woman elected to lead the Magic City, held her first news conference following her historic win.
The now former Miami-Dade County commissioner also became the city’s first Democratic mayor in nearly three decades.
During Wednesday morning’s news conference, Higgins spoke about her plans and priorities for the city’s future, saying she will be a mayor for everyone, regardless of political party.
“It was a very exciting day yesterday in the city of Miami. I am so honored that our incredibly beautiful, diverse community selected me to take on this task in the coming years,” she said. “I promise to go to work every day and make sure that this city does deliver on the promise of the Magic City.”
Higgins earned the seat after defeating Republican candidate Emilio Gonzalez, whom President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis backed.
She believes the election’s outcome sends a message.
“The residents decided to embark upon a different direction,” she said.
Higgins’ campaign priorities were affordability, climate change, and modernizing the city.
“The city has to get to work, become more efficient, be more modern in how it embraces technology. The affordability crisis, we are the tip of the spear in America. We’ve got to build more affordable housing,” she said.
The mayor-elect was asked about immigration and the future of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Miami.
“There’s no reason in the City of Miami that our police department should be in the job of federal immigration enforcement,” said Higgins. “When I speak to our residents, it’s not just about frustration, it’s also about fear. They’ve never been afraid of their government before, and now they are.”
She added that residents tell her they are worried that their family members may be detained.
“We want a strong border, a path to citizenship, but we don’t want law-abiding people to be ejected from our country, impoverishing their families and driving our economy into ruin,” said Higgins. “We are and have always been an immigrant city. I will speak respectfully about them, their families and more importantly about their contribution to our thriving economy.”
While the mayor’s position is officially nonpartisan, the race drew national attention, as the Democratic and Republican parties watched for clues ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Higgins’ opponent, Emilio Gonzalez, conceded the race. He admitted the outcome was not what he wanted, but encouraged voters to support the incoming mayor.
“Obviously, I don’t like the result,” he said. “I think we all owe her our respect, and we owe her our loyalty. She is our mayor, and we need to all do everything we can to make sure that she succeeds, because if she succeeds, our city will succeed.”
7News political analyst Brian Fonseca said Higgins’ win is a major victory for the local Democratic Party.
“It’s important to note that the Democrats did show up, but you’re talking about a turnout of about 20-plus percent, so it’s still relatively low given these are out of cycle elections. Still, it’s unprecedented in the last 30 years to have a Democrat win the election,” he said.
He added voters based their vote on real issues affecting the Magic City.
“Two of the things that have probably been most meaningful in terms of moving the Miami-Dade voter to the Democratic side in this recent election was cost of living and maybe immigration policy,” said Fonseca.
Higgins will begin her term as mayor later this month.
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