Emilio T. Gonzalez (Miami, Florida)
Emilio Gonzalez is running for election for Mayor of Miami in Florida. Gonzalez is on the ballot in the general runoff election on December 9, 2025. Gonzalez advanced from the general election on November 4, 2025.
Biography
Emilio Gonzalez was born in Havana, Cuba.[1] He earned a bachelor's degree in international studies from the University of South Florida in 1977, a master's in Latin American Studies from Tulane University in 1986, a master's in National Security & Strategic Studies from the Naval Academy in 1994, and a Ph.D in international relations from the University of Miami in 1997. His work experience included serving in the military, as head of Citizenship and Immigration Services, as city manager of Miami, and as an investment councilmember for the Florida Department of Financial Services.[2]
2025 battleground election
Ballotpedia identified the December 9 runoff election as a battleground race. The summary below is from our coverage of this election here
Emilio Gonzalez and Eileen Higgins are candidates in the runoff election for mayor of Miami, Florida, on Dec. 9, 2025. This is the first runoff election for mayor since 2001.[3]
The two advanced from a 13-candidate field in the nonpartisan election on Nov. 4, 2025. In that election, Higgins received 36% of the vote, and Gonzales received 20% of the vote. Among the candidates running were former mayors Joe Carollo and Xavier Suarez, and former city commissioners Alex Díaz de la Portilla and Ken Russell. The editorial board of The Miami Herald wrote that Miami voters "rejected some of the city’s longtime political players in the race for mayor... it’s clear voters want change."[4] To read more about the November 4 election, click here.
Gonzalez is a member of the Florida Treasury Investment Council and a former city manager.[5] He is campaigning on reducing taxes and says, "We can eliminate property taxes for homestead property owners while protecting vital services like public safety and infrastructure."[6] He is also campaigning on reducing city work regulations, saying he would "build a workforce to overhaul permitting and licensing—sparking opportunity and empowering residents and entrepreneurs, not just the well-connected."[7] Gonzalez is affiliated with the Republican Party.[8]
Higgins was a commissioner for District 5 on the Miami-Dade County Board of Commissioners.[9] She is campaigning on affordability, and her website says she would support "cutting through red tape and ending corruption so that our city’s government can get to work creating a prosperous and affordable future for all residents."[10] Higgins also campaigned on improving the city's resilience to environmental disasters. Her website says she will "protect Biscayne Bay, invest in flood mitigations, and secure a resilient future for our city."[10] Higgins is affiliated with the Democratic Party.[8]
Florida Politics' Jesse Scheckner wrote, "The Miami-Dade Mayor’s race is technically nonpartisan, though party politics can still play into races."[11] President Donald Trump (R) and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) endorsed Gonzalez, and U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson (D) and Democratic-aligned Miami-Dade County mayor Daniella Levine Cava endorsed Higgins.[12][11][13]
Both parties are focusing on turning out their supporters in the runoff. Miami-Dade County GOP chair Kevin Cooper said the local party was focused on mobilizing voters. Specifically, he pointed to Gonzalez's endorsements and said, "I think you’re going to see people of statewide and even national importance getting out the vote for Emilio." [14] The Democratic National Committee is using its national volunteer base to support Higgins with get-out-the-vote efforts, and Chair Ken Martin said, "Between now and Election Day, the DNC is all-in to elect Eileen Higgins."[15]
In 2024, Donald Trump (R) became the first Republican presidential candidate to win Miami-Dade County in 36 years, though Kamala Harris (D) won the city of Miami 50% to 49%.[16] A Democrat was last elected mayor in 1993.[3] To read more about Ballotpedia's mayoral coverage, click here.
On the same ballot as the election, Miami voters approved a lifetime term limit of two terms for the mayor.[4]
Elections
2025
See also: Mayoral election in Miami, Florida (2025)
General runoff election
General runoff election for Mayor of Miami
Emilio Gonzalez and Eileen Higgins are running in the general runoff election for Mayor of Miami on December 9, 2025.
Candidate | ||
 | Emilio Gonzalez (Nonpartisan) | |
 | Eileen Higgins (Nonpartisan) | |
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 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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General election
General election for Mayor of Miami
The following candidates ran in the general election for Mayor of Miami on November 4, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Eileen Higgins (Nonpartisan) | 36.0 | 13,325 |
| ✔ | | Emilio Gonzalez (Nonpartisan) | 19.5 | 7,214 |
 | Ken Russell (Nonpartisan) | 17.6 | 6,514 | |
 | Joe Carollo (Nonpartisan) | 11.5 | 4,253 | |
 | Alex Díaz de la Portilla (Nonpartisan) | 5.1 | 1,905 | |
 | Xavier Suarez (Nonpartisan) | 4.9 | 1,830 | |
 | Michael Hepburn (Nonpartisan) | 1.9 | 687 | |
 | Laura Anderson (Nonpartisan) | 1.1 | 411 | |
| Christian Cevallos (Nonpartisan) | 0.8 | 287 | ||
| Kenneth DeSantis (Nonpartisan) | 0.6 | 219 | ||
| Elijah Bowdre (Nonpartisan) | 0.5 | 180 | ||
 | Alyssa Crocker (Nonpartisan) | 0.4 | 147 | |
| June Savage (Nonpartisan) | 0.2 | 84 | ||
| Total votes: 37,056 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Ijamyn Gray (Nonpartisan)
- Max Martinez (Nonpartisan)
Endorsements
Gonzalez received the following endorsements. To send us additional endorsements, click here.
- President Donald Trump (R)
- Miami Young Republicans
- Veterans for America First
Campaign themes
2025
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Emilio Gonzalez has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey. Send a message to Emilio Gonzalez asking them to fill out the survey. If you are Emilio Gonzalez, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.
Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?
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You can ask Emilio Gonzalez to fill out this survey by using the button below or emailing emilio@emilioformiami.com.
See also
2025 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Florida Politics, "‘Making Miami work again’: Emilio González, former City Manager, federal admin, enters Mayor’s race," April 10, 2025
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Emilio Gonzalez," accessed September 3, 2025
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 WLRN, "Higgins, Gonzalez headed to Miami's first mayoral runoff election since 2001," November 4, 2025
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Miami Herald, "The nation saw a blue wave. In Miami mayor’s election, it was a ‘change’ wave | Opinion," November 5, 2025
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Emilio Gonzalez," accessed August 20, 2025
- ↑ Floridian Press, "Gonzalez Pitches Eliminating Property Taxes for Homestead Residents in 'Second Pillar' of Miami Mayoral Campaign," August 18, 2025
- ↑ Emilio Gonzalez 2025 campaign website, "Emilio T. Gonzalez’s Plan to Fix What’s Broken in Miami," accessed August 20, 2025
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Florida Politics, "Poll: Eileen Higgins leads race for Miami Mayor, but not enough to avoid a runoff," August 7, 2025
- ↑ Caplin News, "Meet the 2025 City of Miami mayoral candidates," June 23, 2025
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Eileen Higgins 2025 campaign website, "Homepage," accessed August 20, 2025
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Florida Politics, "Frederica Wilson endorses Eileen Higgins for Miami Mayor: ‘Miami’s future depends’ on her," November 13, 2025
- ↑ Miami Herald, "Trump gives ‘complete and total endorsement’ to candidate for Miami mayor," November 17, 2025
- ↑ Miami-Herald, "Deep dive on the Miami mayor race: What voter data says about who will win," November 6, 2025
- ↑ Politico, "DNC ‘all in’ for Democrat in Miami mayor race against Trump-backed Republican," November 20, 2025
- ↑ Miami Herald, "The Democratic National Committee is getting involved in the Miami mayor’s race," November 20, 2025
- ↑ Miami Herald, "Democrat pulls ahead in race for Miami mayor as ballots are counted," November 4, 2025
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