Miami Elects First Democratic Mayor in 28 Years With Strong Belize Ties

Miami has elected its first Democratic mayor in nearly three decades.  Interestingly, the first woman ever to hold the post shows that her path to City Hall runs straight through Belize. Eileen Higgins, a former Peace Corps country director who once lived and worked in Belize, claimed a decisive victory on Tuesday night over Trump-backed Republican candidate Emilio Gonzalez in a runoff election. Higgins secured 59.5 percent of the vote ending the GOP’s 28-year hold on Miami’s mayoralty.  For Belize, her win is more than a political headline, it marks the rise of a former development partner whose work in the Jewel helped shape her public-service philosophy.  Before becoming a fixture in Florida politics, Higgins began her international public-service career in 2006 as the Peace Corps director in Belize. Her role placed her at the heart of rural development, youth programs, community partnerships, and capacity-building initiatives nationwide. Belizean officials who worked alongside Peace Corps during that era recall Higgins as a hands-on collaborator who frequently traveled into villages to support education and community empowerment.  After her Belize tenure, she joined the U.S. State Department under the Obama administration, serving as a foreign service officer in Mexico.  Higgins entered elected office in 2018 when she won a seat as Miami-Dade County commissioner, later securing re-election in 2022 and 2024. She briefly considered a run for Congress but opted out to avoid a competitive Democratic primary, focusing instead on local government reform.  Higgins’s familiarity with Belizean communities, institutions, and development challenges positions her as one of the few major U.S. municipal leaders with deep ties to the country.