2025 Miami mayoral election
The 2025 Miami mayoral election had its initial round held on November 4, 2025, with a runoff election then held on December 9, 2025. The election saw Eileen Higgins elected mayor of Miami, becoming the first Democrat to be elected to this position since 1997. Incumbent mayor Francis Suarez was term-limited and could not run for a third term. Miami holds runoffs if no mayoral candidate receives a majority of the vote. County Board member Eileen Higgins and former city manager Emilio Gonzalez advanced to the runoff. Higgins would go on to defeat Gonzalez in the runoff, making her the first Democrat to be elected mayor since 1997, and the first woman elected to lead Miami in the city's history. The 2025 election marked the first Miami mayoral election to advance to a runoff since 2001.
Background
Incumbent mayor Francis Suarez was re-elected in 2021 with 78.6% of the vote, defeating opponent Max Martinez. He was term-limited.Scheduling
The 2025 election cycle was marred by early controversy. In June 2025, Miami city commissioners passed an ordinance that would change the election dates from odd-numbered to even-numbered years, citing voter turnout and the financial cost of elections as key factors. This ordinance would suspend the November 2025 elections until November 2026, giving incumbents an extra year in office. One of the candidates, Emilio Gonzalez, filed a lawsuit challenging the Commission's ordinance. Both the 11th Judicial Circuit and Third District Court of Appeal ruled in Gonzalez's favor, finding that the ordinance violated the Florida Constitution, the Miami-Dade County Home Rule Charter, and the City of Miami Charter. The City of Miami soon after filed a motion to obtain a rehearing en banc. This means that the entire Third District Court would hear the case as opposed to the customary three-judge panel.Candidates
Declared
Advanced to runoff
- Emilio Gonzalez, former city manager and former Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
- Eileen Higgins, Miami-Dade County commissioner and candidate for in 2022
Eliminated in first round
- Laura Anderson
- Elijah John Bowdre, Miami-Dade County Crypto Currency Chairman
- Joe Carollo, city commissioner and former mayor
- Christian Cevallos, former member of the Miami-Dade Community Council for the 11th district and former Miami zoning czar
- Alyssa Crocker, activist
- Kenneth James DeSantis, attorney
- Alex Díaz de la Portilla, former city commissioner and former state senator
- Michael Hepburn, community activist and perennial candidate
- Ken Russell, former city commissioner and candidate for Florida's 27th congressional district in 2022
- Xavier Suarez, former mayor, former county commissioner, and father of incumbent mayor Francis Suarez
- June Savage, real estate agent and perennial candidate
Withdrew
- Ijamyn Gray
- Maxwell Martinez, podcast producer and perennial candidate
Did not run/declined
Individuals substantially speculated to run, but ultimately did not, include:- Manolo Reyes, city commissioner
- Joe Sanchez, former city commissioner, candidate for sheriff of Miami–Dade in 2024, mayoral candidate in 2009
- Fred Voccola, vice chairman and former CEO of Kaseya