Commissioner Eileen Higgins’ record on crime and public safety is drawing increased scrutiny as Miami’s mayoral race intensifies. Throughout the campaign, Higgins has kept an unusually low profile on her voting history and ideological leanings, even as concerns mount about her long-standing alignment with far-left criminal justice policies.
Higgins has often presented herself as a pragmatic centrist. But a closer look at her background paints a different picture — one that Miami voters are only now beginning to see clearly.
In a 2018 Miami New Times profile, Higgins described what she called her “political awakening.” According to the article, that moment came during her 30s in New York City, when she attended an anti–death penalty event hosted by the Unabomber’s brother, who advocated against capital punishment for violent offenders. Higgins told the publication that the event “clicked” for her — a moment that shaped her emotional and philosophical approach to criminal justice.
Critics say that ideological foundation has since carried into her policymaking.
During her time on the Miami-Dade County Commission, Higgins quietly supported cashless bail, a policy embraced by the far-left. Cashless bail has faced widespread backlash in cities such as New York and Seattle, where offenders released without posting bond have repeatedly been rearrested, straining police resources and heightening concerns about public safety.
Her ideological counterparts now include Zohran Mamdani, the newly elected Mayor of New York City and a leading national figure behind progressive bail reform efforts, as well as Katie Wilson, the self-described communist mayor of Seattle who has pushed aggressively for similar police-limiting, offender-sympathetic policies.
Public safety advocates warn that adopting such policies in Miami could weaken the ability of police to detain repeat offenders and could lead to increases in neighborhood crime — patterns that have already emerged in cities following the same playbook.
Throughout the mayoral race, Higgins has remained evasive on her record. She has avoided offering clear explanations of her prior positions on bail reform, declined to detail a comprehensive crime-prevention plan, and provided no indication of whether she intends to pursue similar policies at Miami City Hall.
Political observers note that Higgins’ strategy of staying under the radar may have worked earlier in the race, but public scrutiny is now intensifying. Voters are beginning to question how her long-held ideological alignment — from her early political awakening to her support for national far-left figures — could shape Miami’s future on crime and public safety.
As Election Day approaches, one thing is clear: the debate over Higgins’ criminal justice stance is only growing louder, and Miami residents are demanding answers.
