A Republican mayoral candidate in Florida touted his plans for affordability while blasting his opponent’s doomed approach that will create a “city of renters.”
Miami mayoral candidate Emilio Gonzalez, an Army veteran and former West Point teacher who has been endorsed by President Donald Trump, spoke with Fox News Digital about the runoff election on Dec. 9, when he will face off against progressive Democrat Eileen Higgins in the race to replace term-limited Republican Mayor Francis Suarez.
Gonzalez is proposing an alternate plan to his opponent, looking to turn Miami into a “city of owners.”
“Higgins, a Miami-Dade County commissioner who resigned her office to run for mayor, has emphasized ‘building an affordable and prosperous future.’ She has touted her successes as county commissioner in investing nearly $3 million in small business grants and investments in building nearly 7,000 affordable housing units,” Fox News noted.
But Gonzalez does not believe the Democrat has accomplished much.
“She can point to some votes on a county commission to help put up a building here or a building there. But it really doesn’t move the needle,” he told Fox News Digital. “The affordability issue, it sounds very nice, but it means absolutely nothing because she really hasn’t done much when it comes to affordability.”
“Right now, Miami is so expensive. Nothing is affordable,” continued the Republican, who also has the endorsement of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL).
“We’re in a situation where our young people, once they graduate from college, they have to leave because the jobs here don’t pay enough. The apartments cost too much. Forget about a mortgage. There’s nothing in Miami that sells for less than five, six hundred thousand dollars right now. And the jobs will not support that,” he explained.
“She wants to create a city of renters,” he said of Higgins. “I, on the other hand, want to create a city of owners.”
“I want property owners,” he said. “They want to talk about affordability, everybody does. They want to talk about the challenges of public transportation; everybody does. But it comes down to what is the solution, and that’s where I think we differ.”
“We have vastly different views on how to move the city forward and what’s best for our residents. She believes in a very statist approach where the government needs to go out and help people build, build, build, build, build, and never to own, but just to rent,” Gonzalez continued. “And I’m about making sure that our residents have enough money in their pocket so that they can afford to buy a home and buy that first condominium or buy that starter home.”
“The last thing I’m going to do is allow Miami to fall into the same trap that you’ve seen… in New York or Chicago, which is bankrupt, or L.A., which is, quite frankly, looks like a wasteland in the downtown area. That’s not going to happen in Miami, it’s not,” he vowed.
He expressed his agreement with DeSantis on plans to eliminate property taxes in the Sunshine State.
Ron DeSantis on property taxes:
“If I go to Best Buy and buy a TV, I pay a sales tax—but I don’t keep paying taxes on it year after year!”pic.twitter.com/4Cp2RIJZ1F
— Thomas Sowell Quotes (@ThomasSowell) October 10, 2025
“I applaud Gov. DeSantis wanting to do away with property taxes. We can do that. And we can do that and not skip a beat,” the mayoral candidate said. “Right now, property taxes make up less than 7% of the city’s budget. You know what? I think we can find 7% in efficiencies to offset that.”
“That’s just the beginning,” Gonzalez added. “I think there are other opportunities that we have to put money in people’s pockets through efficiencies, through leveraging our resources and making this place affordable again.”
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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