Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani upset the political establishment by winning the mayoralty of New York City but now comes along another upset, this time in the city of Miami in deep-red Florida.
Miami’s new mayor, Eileen Higgins, hailed it as “a new day” for the city after the Democrat ended three decades of Republican rule on Tuesday night in a stunning election triumph.
In reality, the result is more of a seismic shifting of sands given the magnitude of her victory over the Donald Trump-backed Republican candidate, Emilio González, in the most populous city in Miami-Dade county, which the president won in 2024 by 12%.
Higgins won the run-off with almost 60% of the vote, according to preliminary results reported Wednesday by the Miami Herald. More than just further evidence of a growing national backlash against Trump’s policies on the national stage, particularly immigration, her win has reset Miami’s political landscape in a manner not seen in some ways in 28 years, and in others not at all.
Higgins is the first woman to hold the office; the first Democrat to win it in 28 years; and the first non-Hispanic candidate since the 1990s. As if to bookend neatly the passing back of the Republican torch, the outgoing incumbent, Francis Suarez, is the son of the most recent Democratic Miami mayor, Xavier Suarez, who was elected in 1997.
…The swing back towards Democrats was notable given that Hispanic voters contributed to the red wave that last year saw Trump become the first Republican presidential candidate to win Miami-Dade county since 1988.
This adds to the trend of Democrats winning in formerly Republican strongholds or, if they lose, narrowing the margin of defeat considerably from past elections. This has led to speculation as to what it might mean for other candidates in other races.
Higgins’ campaign is likely to be studied carefully by other Democratic hopefuls in Florida. She ran not on social justice or culture war issues, but on improving affordability and making government work better.
…Republicans, meanwhile, will face questions after Tuesday’s result, including on how motivated their base is and whether they’re losing ground with Latinos. A central issue is whether it’ll continue to be effective to label Democrats as “socialists” at every turn, given it didn’t seem to have hurt Higgins. In interviews with half a dozen GOP volunteers over the last month, there was also disagreement over whether it had been a good idea for President Donald Trump to endorse in a nonpartisan race.
…But because Republicans held the seat for so long and because Higgins won by nearly 20 points, there’s bound to be hand-wringing in the months ahead about whether it’s a sign of bigger changes to come. And now Democrats can add Miami to their list of 2025 wins.
“Donald Trump got involved in this election. Ron DeSantis got involved in this election. Every statewide elected Republican got involved in this election,” Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said. “They knew this was an important race, and them blowing it off today is why we’re going to be able to win some really big races next year — because they think they just have Florida in the bag.”
Trump went in big on supporting the Republican candidate, as did governor Ron De Santis, but that did not help and may even have hurt him.
Trump is trying to recapture his mojo, the sense that he can win elections by his endorsements but his recent return to a campaign-style rally in Pennsylvania was less than overwhelming.
Trump’s team clearly hoped the blue-collar community in one of the country’s most important swing states would give him a friendly launchpad. While I expected a crowd of a few thousand with the nostalgic sound of MAGA chants echoing off metal bleachers, I tuned into Fox News Tuesday evening to find the president in a conference center ballroom inside a local casino with a reported capacity of 1,200 people but that appeared to be holding far less. And even that small crowd seemed hesitant, almost resigned, as Trump ranted for nearly 90 minutes. Fox News, of course, dutifully avoided any wide shots. But the truth was clear on screen: The MAGA magic had vanished.
…Even a local waitress brought on stage to support Trump lamented that her paychecks no longer stretch far enough. “Pretty much everything I make goes towards paying the bills,” she said. In response, Trump offered advice in the style of Marie Antoinette.
Americans must learn to adjust to a lower standard of living, he told the crowd before suggesting a specific solution to prices hiked by his tariffs, which he continues to insist are a success. “You can give up certain products. You can give up pencils…You don’t need 37 dolls for your daughter. Two or three is nice.”
Trump lies about everything. He of course has no idea what ordinary people’s lives are like. Thus he can make
Americans are struggling with affordability pressures that are squeezing everything from their everyday necessities to their biggest-ticket expenses.
Nearly half of Americans said they find groceries, utility bills, health care, housing and transportation difficult to afford, according to The POLITICO Poll conducted last month by Public First. The results paint a grim portrait of spending constraints: More than a quarter, 27 percent, said they have skipped a medical check-up because of costs within the last two years, and 23 percent said they have skipped a prescription dose for the same reason.
It looks very much like Republicans are going to let the ACA health care subsidies expire at the end of the year, causing severe difficulties for about 42 million people.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates 4 million fewer people would have health insurance by 2034 if the subsidies lapse. And premium payments would increase from an average of $888 this year to $1,904 next year if the subsidies expire, according to KFF.
It is hard to have people believe a lie that they see contradicted in their own experience. Some will undoubtedly continue to support him despite recognizing that what he says is not true because true believers find it hard to concede that their hero has feet of clay and will continue to make excuses for him. But those on the margins will peel way and it is that shift, and not wholesale abandonment. that I think we are seeing in recent elections.
The overuse of the label has diluted its strength as a epithet and the cold war being prehistoric to basically anyone under about 40 means the term just doesn’t have the scariness it once had anymore.
Also, given that life seems to get continually worse under the leadership of non-socialist politicians, it doesn’t surprise me that many people, especially younger generations, feel there’s nothing to lose by giving this socialism thing a try.
Trickster @1, I agree.
I didn’t think that there might be anything that could stop the emotional MAGA need. Once people have a position that they need as an emotional crutch, they rarely abandon it.
But, vast numbers of them, the norm now and not the exception, apparently, unable to pay for daily life, is seeming to have some effect. I hope that it is a strong enough one.
The usual thing under dictatorial fascism is to completely destroy the middle class: to generate only the very poor and the very rich. To consolidate power. And indeed, the percentage of Americans who are defined as middle-class has gone from 60% (don’t know when that was) to 40% now.
The dictators might find this difficult with Americans, though, as Americans are used to decades of middle-class luxury (as in, oh, you know, groceries.) So, perhaps the facists will lose some of the base, even if only by starvation.
Socialists may be evil, but at least they are different, and, if you vote for them, things will change, who knows, perhaps for the better, and for people who can’t afford food and housing could, in America, it could hardly be much for the worse.
As for medical care in the US, of course that is beyond hope and has been for years. No one should be expecting any, as no one’s been able to afford any for all this time. I think the health system may end in collapsing under its own weight, it is so unworkable. One can hope.
A significant chunk of the un-workable-ness of it is private insurance. Baby steps. 🙂
The ‘dirty names’ we get called change on the regular. The hate for those like us who have morals and love freedom remains the same.