Democrats are projected to win the mayoral race in Miami, Florida, reported The New York Times on Tuesday evening — the first time they have taken this office in almost 30 years.
Decision Desk called the race at 7:08 p.m. ET for Eileen Higgins in the runoff election. The Associated Press called the race around 8 p.m. ET.
“Tonight, the people of Miami made history,” Higgins said in a statement, according to AP.
It’s a significant win and a morale boost for Democrats in a state that has handed them a series of headaches in the last decade, backing Republicans in almost every statewide race and seeing a precipitous drop in support for Democrats in longtime electoral strongholds.
The race was technically nonpartisan, but candidates operate under clear endorsements from one party or the other.
Eileen Higgins, a former Miami-Dade County Commissioner who represented conservative Cuban-American areas of the city and is known by the nickname “La Gringa,” clinched the win against Republican-backed former city manager Emilio Gonzalez.
“A Spanish speaker herself, Higgins has focused her campaign relentlessly on local issues such as the cost of housing while capitalizing on national ones, including the treatment of immigrants under the Trump administration in a city with sizable Hispanic and foreign-born populations,” reported Fortune, noting that “Trump and other big-name Florida Republicans, including Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Rick Scott, have weighed in for the conservative candidate … [while] nationally known Democrats, including former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, have offered support on behalf of Eileen Higgins.”
This comes after a series of other Democratic wins around the country, including in the marquee Virginia and New Jersey governor races, and after a special election in Tennessee that saw Democrats heavily overperforming in a deep red district.
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