Miami Herald endorses Eileen Higgins for Miami-Dade District 2

The Miami Herald Editorial Board endorsed Eileen Higgins for Miami-Dade County Commission District 2, writing that “Higgins has some policy wins and should be given a chance to flourish as a commissioner.” In a county where commissioners vote on transit, zoning, parks, budget priorities, public safety, and day-to-day services, the seat carries practical weight far beyond a single campaign.

District 2 is one of Miami-Dade County’s 13 commission districts, and the county’s official district map places it across a large stretch of the urban core and surrounding neighborhoods. The county’s District 2 page identifies Marleine Bastien as the current commissioner, giving voters a clear benchmark for the seat now on the line.

The race is nonpartisan, and county rules set firm eligibility standards for candidates: a qualifying candidate must be a qualified elector of Miami-Dade County, must have lived in Miami-Dade County for at least three years before qualifying, and must have lived in the district for at least six months before qualifying. Those requirements help explain why commission contests often turn on local familiarity, administrative judgment, and the ability to navigate a large county government that shapes taxes, services, and capital projects.

That is the frame the editorial board appeared to use in backing Higgins. Rather than making the endorsement about ideology alone, the board pointed to her record and said she should be given a chance to build on it inside county government. For voters trying to weigh District 2, the useful question is how each candidate would handle the next round of county decisions that affect neighborhoods directly, from land use and housing pressure to transit service and park funding.

The county’s election records also give this race historical context. Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections materials keep candidate reports going back to 2006, and its election results archive runs from 1996 through 2024. For a district seat that can influence how Miami-Dade balances growth, services, and public spending, those records offer a long view of how local power has shifted and how often voters have used down-ballot races to reset county direction.