Higgins secured nearly 60 percent of the vote in the runoff election, according to CNN and the Miami Herald newspaper, defeating Republican candidate Emilio T. González, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

In addition to being the first Democrat to win the Miami mayor's office since the 1990s, Higgins, 61, is the first woman elected to the position.

Despite winning by a double-digit margin, turnout for this off-calendar election was low, with only 20 percent of registered voters participating.

With a significant Latino population, Miami's politics have been dominated by Republicans of Cuban descent for much of the last three decades.

Trump, who frequently spends weekends at his Mar-a-Lago club located about 107 kilometers north of Miami, won Florida's electoral votes in 2016, 2020, and 2024.

"Together, we have turned the page from years of chaos and corruption and opened the door to a new era for our city—a time defined by ethical and responsible leadership that delivers real results for people," Higgins said in a statement, according to media reports.

The election of the new mayor marks the latest Democratic triumph in a series of electoral events this year, following key state-level wins in Virginia and New Jersey and the mayoralty of New York City.

The series of successful Democratic campaigns is widely interpreted as a rejection of Trump's return to the White House earlier this year.