Mayor-elect Eileen Higgins' (D) surprise blowout win in Miami, Florida's mayoral runoff race this week is a "wakeup call for President Donald Trump," according to the Washington Post editorial board.
The Post wrote Thursday that Higgins' victory — in which she won 59 percent of the vote while Republican Emilio T. González won 41 percent — came despite Miami electing Republican mayors for decades and Florida surging further rightward in recent elections. In 2024, Trump himself was the first Republican presidential candidate to win Miami-Dade County in nearly 40 years, and came within a point of winning Miami itself last year.
"It’s a huge deal in Miami because Cuban Republicans have dominated local politics for a generation. A Democrat hasn’t been elected mayor since 1997, and his victory was invalidated the next year because of ballot fraud," the Post wrote, noting that Trump's unpopular policies effectively doomed González.
"Insiders in both parties say Trump’s aggressive deportation campaign against immigrants who have no criminal record beyond being in the country illegally turned off Hispanic independents who backed him last year," the editorial read. "Another frustration was Trump revoking temporary protected status for several nationalities with a presence in the city."
Higgins was able to localize Trump's policies by highlighting the fact that 27 employees at a Miami-area medical clinic were immediately fired after the Trump administration revoked work authorization for Venezuelan immigrants. She also promised to revisit the city's cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), saying local police had no business "checking residents’ papers."
"It’s politically perilous to draw too many national lessons from a local race, but the Miami upset comes against the backdrop of Democrats overperforming across the map," the Post wrote. "House Democrats contend that the mayoral results suggest they have three pickup opportunities in South Florida next year, though the GOP incumbents will probably be shored up by mid-decade redistricting."
The Post also asserted that Higgins' victory could also provide a lesson for Democrats, noting that she was from the party's more moderate wing, like Governors-elect Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) and Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) The paper further observed that Higgins' stumped not with progressive household names, but alongside former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D), who is regarded as more conservative than most Democrats.
Click here to read the Post's editorial in its entirety (subscription required).