Photograph: Reuters
Dec 10th 2025|BRICKELL|5 min read
THE ELECTION marked many firsts. On December 9th voters chose Eileen Higgins to become Miami’s first female mayor and the first Democrat to hold the job this century. But in South Florida the county bureaucrat’s win signals something more: the end of decades of dynastic rule. For nearly 40 years a handful of powerful families have run the city like a grift. This year Ms Higgins won in a 13-candidate field full of them. She will take office halfway through a decade that is remaking Miami faster than…
Photograph: Reuters
Dec 10th 2025|BRICKELL|5 min read
THE ELECTION marked many firsts. On December 9th voters chose Eileen Higgins to become Miami’s first female mayor and the first Democrat to hold the job this century. But in South Florida the county bureaucrat’s win signals something more: the end of decades of dynastic rule. For nearly 40 years a handful of powerful families have run the city like a grift. This year Ms Higgins won in a 13-candidate field full of them. She will take office halfway through a decade that is remaking Miami faster than it can handle, amid an affordability crisis that threatens its identity. The city’s residents are craving stability. Can a new leader turn staggering recent growth into a sustainable economy that works for everyone?
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