From inflation to defending migrants: Eileen Higgins and Zohran Mamdani inaugurate the new Democratic resistance against Trump

Eileen Higgins will be sworn in on Thursday as Miami’s first female mayor and the first Democrat to hold that office in nearly 30 years. Her swearing-in ceremony, to be held on the Miami Dade College campus, will mark the beginning of a new wave of Democratic mayors and governors elected a year after Donald Trump’s victory and who are promising to challenge the Republican’s policies. These include Zohran Mamdani in New York, Abigail Spanberger in Virginia, and Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey.

The four politicians employed distinct strategies during their respective campaigns: Governors-elect Spanberger and Sherrill ran as moderate options within the Democratic Party, while the young socialist Mamdani won the New York City mayoral race with a progressive and anti-establishment platform, and Higgins challenged the Republican Party in an increasingly conservative city. However, regardless of their different approaches, they shared a common thread: they all presented themselves as a response and an alternative to Trump. And they all won despite the president’s endorsement of their opponents’ candidacies.

In Miami, where the mayoral race is nonpartisan because candidates do not appear with party affiliation on the ballot, Higgins defeated former city manager Emilio González, who received Trump’s endorsement for the municipal runoff after his other three candidates lost in New York, New Jersey and Virginia on November 4. A victory in Miami was especially important for Trump because in the 2024 presidential election, he won Miami-Dade County, a Democratic stronghold for decades, where the Latino vote is crucial.

Higgins prevailed with an agenda focused on affordability, underscoring the soaring cost of living and high housing and rental prices, much like Mamdani in New York. Indeed, voter discontent with the state of the economy and rising prices due to Trump’s trade war was one of the main factors driving the victories of the candidates who will take office in the coming weeks.

“While her opponent was ready to rubber-stamp Donald Trump’s inflationary agenda, Higgins remained laser-focused on lowering costs and improving the lives of Miami families,” said Democratic National Committee chairman Ken Martin. The result “is yet another warning sign to Republicans that voters are fed up with their out-of-touch agenda that is raising costs for working families across the country.”

The working class was also at the heart of Mamdani’s campaign in New York. The socialist ran on an agenda focused on affordability in the most expensive city in the United States, which is itself one of the most expensive countries in the world. He promised to give New Yorkers some relief with proposals such as freezing rent on rent-controlled apartments, making public buses free, and offering free childcare for all children under five.

Mamdani, who will take office on January 1, has already had his first face-to-face meeting with Trump, after the president invited him to the White House in late November. The meeting between the two politicians, who had spent months trading insults before Mamdani’s victory, focused on the cost-of-living crisis in New York City, Trump’s birthplace. Both expressed their willingness to work together to address it.

Candidates who support migrants

Another key factor in the Democratic victories was the candidates’ responses to the immigration offensive undertaken by the federal government, especially in Miami and New York, two cities that have always been recipients of migrants.

In Miami, the mayor-elect capitalized on the regret of those who supported Trump and then personally experienced the effects of his agenda of mass arrests and deportations. She openly criticized what she called a “cruel” policy under which migrants are treated “as if they were less than human,” and warned of the negative consequences the raids would have on Miami’s economy, where around 70% of the population is Latino and almost a quarter are immigrants.

Like Higgins, Mamdani strongly criticized Trump’s immigration agenda as a candidate. In his first speech after his victory on November 4, he addressed the president and uttered a sentence that went viral: “New York will continue to be a city built by immigrants, a city powered by immigrants, and as of tonight, a city led by an immigrant.”

As mayor-elect, he has denounced the attempts by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to conduct raids in New York, as well as the arrests that continue to be made inside the federal building at 26 Federal Plaza, which houses several immigration courts and where agents arrest migrants who show up for appointments or routine hearings.

In early December, Mamdani posted a video on Instagram outlining the rights migrants have when confronted by ICE agents, such as the right to remain silent and the right to demand a warrant. The video, which has garnered over 11 million views, culminates with a promise similar to the one he made on the night of his election victory: “New York will always welcome immigrants. And I will fight each and every day to protect, support and celebrate our immigrant brothers and sisters.”

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