On Republicans losing the City of Miami tonight — and why this is a much bigger loss for DeSantis and the GOP establishment than for Trump and MAGA. (And yes, I live here.)
— Mostly Peaceful Latinas (@mplpodcast305) December 10, 2025
No one is more responsible for this loss than our local Republican leadership. We wanted the election…
On Republicans losing the City of Miami tonight — and why this is a much bigger loss for DeSantis and the GOP establishment than for Trump and MAGA. (And yes, I live here.)
No one is more responsible for this loss than our local Republican leadership. We wanted the election moved to next year to coincide with the midterms because we all know Republicans perform terribly in off-year municipal races. The City of Miami Commission even voted to move the election, but Emilio González — the GOP’s loser candidate — sued the City with the help of DeSantis-aligned lawyers to force the election to stay in 2024.
He won the lawsuit… and then lost the election he insisted on having this year.
Low voter turnout: The local GOP did absolutely nothing to prepare voters. No voter-registration pushes. No reminders to confirm polling locations. No education on the issues. I received one text on Election Day in November and a robocall today — that’s it. Meanwhile, Democrats executed a far stronger and more coordinated ground game.
Emilio González was simply a bad candidate. Zero charisma. Old-school GOP elitist. Backed by DeSantis and only endorsed by Trump after he made the runoff. His entire campaign was built on recycled talking points and handled by anti-Trump establishment consultants desperate to resurrect the pre-Trump Republican Party.
There was no identity, no message, no energy — just money burned on consultants who don’t understand Miami voters.
And the “outsider fighting corruption” narrative? Laughable. Emilio was literally the City Manager of Miami — the city’s top administrator — before quitting. Prior to that, he worked under Carlos Giménez at MIA, where he was known for giving contracts to his friends until procurement was taken away from him. Before that, he served under the Bush administration as Director of USCIS. Across all these roles, nobody has anything positive to say about his performance except that he was lazy and ineffective.
Local elections are nuanced, turnout is tiny, and this is absolutely not a predictor for 2026. But make no mistake: this loss is on the DeSantis machine, the GOP establishment, and their consultants — not on Trump or the MAGA movement.
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