Born Alone and the Devil Brings Them Together: Eileen Higgins and Laura Anderson 2025.

Born Alone and the Devil Brings Them Together: Eileen Higgins and Laura Anderson 2025. The United Activism of Eileen Higgins and Laura Anderson in Miami Radical Politics.

In Miami’s turbulent political scenario, where ideologies clash with the history of exiles and the economy of a global hub like Miami International Airport (MIA), an alliance emerges that embodies the popular saying: “They are born alone and the devil brings them together”.

Eileen Higgins and Laura Anderson, two women running in the November 4, 2025 Miami mayoral election, represent this diabolical union.

Both, driven by progressive and left-wing agendas, joined together in labor demonstrations and political forums, highlighting their radical ideas on issues such as workers’ rights, socialism and social reforms.

Although Higgins advanced to the runoff against Emilio Gonzalez (scheduled for December 9, 2025), and Anderson was eliminated in the first round with less than 1% of the vote, their shared activism reveals the twists in local politics under the administration of Daniella Levine Cava, where rules are violated and double standards reign.

What unites them: their electoral campaigns, ideological affinities, participation in protests, contradictions in political actions, accusations of communism and radical socialism, and comparisons with figures such as Zohran Mamdani.

We explore how these women, born in independent contexts, are brought together by the “devil” of Miami politics – a system armored to pro-business agendas that allows for regulatory violations while fostering opportunistic alliances.

Election Campaigns: Two Women in the Race for Miami

Both women entered the nonpartisan race for Miami mayor in 2025, among 13 candidates.

Laura Anderson, a member of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), promoted a socialist platform focused on labor rights, amnesty for immigrants and economic reform, but her campaign was marginal, reflecting Miami’s rejection of ideas perceived as radical. britannica.com

Eileen Higgins, a former Democratic Miami-Dade commissioner, emphasized at least what she puts forward, not so much on actions: affordable housing, public transit and environmental resilience, winning first place in the initial round with endorsements from the DNC, Florida Democratic Party, unions such as SEIU and AFL-CIO, and figures such as Mayor Levine Cava. reddit.com

His advance to runoff nationalizes the election, with Trump endorsing Gonzalez and accusing Higgins of extreme leftism. ksbw.com

What unites them electorally is their participation in a candidate forum organized by progressive groups in September 2025, co-sponsored by Florida Student Power, Florida Rising Together, Miami Freedom Project for Democracy, Equality Florida, Engage Miami, Miami Workers Center, Catalyst Miami, CLEO Institute, SAVE, Escarment Foundation for the Needy and United & United Inc.

Both, along with six other candidates, discussed progressive issues, highlighting a temporary alignment on social causes despite their differences.

Socialist Agenda and Woke in its Bases of Government

The Anderson and Higgins government platforms incorporate elements of socialist agenda and “woke” (progressive social consciousness on issues of racial, gender and environmental justice), albeit with different intensities.

Laura Anderson, as a SWP candidate, advocates an openly socialist agenda: she advocates workers taking political power, fighting the capitalist crisis, and forming their own party independent of the Democrats and Republicans. isreview.org

His proposals include radical economic reforms, such as wealth redistribution, unconditional amnesty for immigrants and international solidarity with causes such as Puerto Rican independence, aligned with Trotskyist ideals.

On the “woke” side, Anderson promotes social equality and the fight against oppression, criticizing the capitalist system for perpetuating racial and gender inequalities, although his approach is more classist than identitarian.

Eileen Higgins, on the other hand, presents a progressive agenda with “soft” socialist overtones and prominent “woke” elements.

Its platform is sold as “housing affordability”, but in practice it translates into rent control policies and public subsidies that its critics point to as socialist interventionism… with prices that remain far from people’s real pockets.

He talks about expanding public transportation through more state investment to “reduce inequalities”, but failed with the previous proposal of electric buses, where dozens of vehicles were left inoperative after the bankruptcy of the supplier Proterra, while the people have been asking for something much more concrete for years: to really extend the Metrobus to Florida City.

And it wraps everything in the discourse of “environmental resilience” and “climate justice,” supposedly prioritizing vulnerable communities, when the loss of agricultural land in the county is more than evident and its systematic support for almost unchecked development proves it, even as it looks the other way in the face of climate warning and the impact on Miami-Dade’s aquifer.

On the “woke,” Higgins supports LGBTQ+ rights (endorsed by Equality Florida), racial equity in urban policies and anti-corruption to protect minorities, though he faces accusations of “silent socialism” and pay-for-play patterns that contradict his narrative of transparency. nytimes.com

These bases unite their visions: a more interventionist and socially conscious government, although Higgins frames it as democratic pragmatism.

Radical Left Ideas: Affinities and Accusations

Anderson is openly radical: as a self-proclaimed disciple of Fidel Castro, whom she admires as a leader for advances in education and health, she visited Cuba three times and defended him in interviews, generating backlash in the Cuban-American community. history.com

Her affiliation with the SWP, a Trotskyist party, and emphasis on socialism place her on the extreme left, although she did not receive direct endorsement from the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

Higgins, by contrast, is a mainstream Democrat with establishment endorsements, but faces accusations of radicalism for her emphasis on progressive policies and a 2020 tweet interpreted as sympathy for the DSA. There is no evidence of DSA endorsement in 2025; her endorsements are from mainstream Democrats.

However, critics compare her to Zohran Mamdani, the Muslim socialist mayor of New York (elected in 2025, member DSA), branded a “radical Islamist communist” by conservatives like Trump.

Higgins condemns Castro as a “tyrant,” but her focus on housing and labor unites radical leftist perceptions with Anderson. quora.com. She knows Miami-Dade can’t talk about Fidel Castro the way Anderson did.

Fidel Castro, as a guide for many socialists, is revered for his role in the 1959 Cuban Revolution, which overthrew the Batista regime and established the first communist state in the Western Hemisphere.

His supporters see him as a champion of socialism and anti-imperialism, highlighting advances in social and economic justice, such as the universalization of health and education, the eradication of illiteracy and Cuba’s independence from U.S. influence.

Castro declared himself a Marxist-Leninist in 1961 and maintained socialism despite the Soviet collapse, inspiring global leftist leaders with his resistance to capitalism and his mentorship of new progressive movements. en.wikipedia.org +4

However, in Miami-Dade, Castro generates a visceral rejection among Cuban-Americans, many of them exiles or descendants who fled the regime due to political repression, executions, property confiscations and lack of freedoms.

Miami, the epicenter of the Cuban diaspora, is home to a community that views him as a tyrannical dictator, and street celebrations at news of his death or resignation reflect a deep hatred rooted in personal experiences of loss and exile.

This anti-communism influences local politics, favoring the U.S. embargo and rejecting any sympathy for Castroism. nbcnews.com +5

Shared Activism: The MIA Demonstration and Labor Rights

Their most visible unionization occurred at the Labor Day demonstration in September 2025 at the MIA, where unionized workers protested for fair wages and safe conditions.

A video shows Higgins marching with employees and Anderson joining in the chants, positioning themselves as labor allies. This protest violated potential regulations, such as informal limits of 25 people without permits, but was tolerated under the agenda of Levine Cava, who oversees MIA and prioritizes efficiency over strict rules.Higgins has testified in Washington about precarious conditions at MIA, such as on his December 2018 visit where he witnessed dilapidated vehicles, intimidation by Eulen supervisors and infested break rooms.

He wrote to Eulen’s CEO with no response, urging airlines such as American and Delta to intervene, but the Department of Aviation clarified its limited jurisdiction. Anderson, less closely tied to the MIA, aligned herself with these issues in her campaign.Double Standards in Miami-Dade Politics.

Herein lies the contradiction: Higgins, as commissioner, approved contracts with companies like Eulen without protective clauses for workers, allowing extensions without bidding and multi-million dollar concessions that prioritize companies over employees. Although she pushed for the termination of Eulen in 2021, critics see hypocrisy: protesting with workers while approving agreements that perpetuate problems.

Under Levine Cava, the MIA sees campaigns like “I AM MIA” shielding corporate interests, twisting regulations for demonstrations or contracts.Anderson’s radicalism adds layers: his views on Castro feed narratives of “communism,” uniting perceptions with Higgins in an anti-communist county.

The Campaign Eileen vs. the Chair Eileen: The Story at MIA No Cuadra

On television, Eileen Higgins sells herself as the fearless commissioner who goes “undercover” into the airport to listen to workers.

The report makes it clear: in December, she says, she managed to convince three employees to take her on a tour of MIA because they were afraid they would lose their jobs if they talked, and she says she saw rattly, rickety vehicles being used to load and unload supplies.

That he entered a break room with cockroaches. That an Eulen supervisor stood up to her, crossed the room and said “there’s going to be trouble here”, in a clear attempt to intimidate her. She says it herself: “And I’m a county commissioner… it was intimidating”. After the tour, she returns to her office and writes a letter to the CEO of Eulen America. There she complains about the supervisor’s conduct, the fear of employees and the undignified treatment.

The answer: silence. “I never heard anything back from the company,” he admits.

On camera, he finishes off with a round sentence: that the airport is not private property, that “this airport belongs to the people of Miami-Dade”, that the workers are only asking for water, a break room without cockroaches and safe equipment, and that the airlines (American, Delta) are responsible because they are the ones that hire Eulen.

Sounds good. It sounds heroic. But when you look at the big picture, something doesn’t add up.

The double game: benefactor in the chambers, easy signatory in the contracts. Because one thing is the Eileen who speaks in the report… And quite another is the Eileen who sits on the Board of Commissioners: From her commissioner’s chair she has endorsed, without much of a public fight, contracts, general permits and agreements that allow these types of companies to operate in MIA.

If he was truly so shocked by what he saw, his tool was not just an “offended” letter to the CEO, but his vote and his political pressure on the county itself and on the terms of the agreements with the operators.

The Department of Aviation itself acknowledges in its statement that it “has no jurisdiction or federally mandated authority over Eulen or any other permittee beyond the terms of its General Aeronautical Service Permit Agreement”.

Simple translation: the only leash of control the county has is the contract.And that’s where the awkward question comes in: what did Higgins, from his formal power, do with that leash? Did he propose amendments? Did he demand clear minimum safety clauses and conditions? Did he call for automatic penalties for violations? Did he threaten not to renew or cancel the permit if abuses were not corrected?

None of that appears in his own account. There is only a letter, a corporate silence… and a dramatic closing in front of the camera.

In the campaign, this is how she presented herself to be elected: as the voice of the workers, the one that gets to the bottom of the airport, the one that “confronts” the companies.

From the chair, what we see is something else: On the one hand, it approves without major conditions the contract framework that keeps this model of cheap subcontracting in place.

On the other, she projects herself as the benefactor of the employees who are now protesting at MIA, marching and posing at their side as if she were not part of the structure that allowed these abuses.

This is called political double standards: using the suffering of the workers as scenery, while preserving intact the system that exploits them. This airport belongs to the people”… but the people are not in charge.

There is another key detail: Higgins repeats that the airport “belongs to the people of Miami-Dade“. In theory, this is true. MIA is a public asset.

But in practice: the county government imposes harsh regulations for demonstrations, limits where you can protest, creates limited areas and even taxes if the group passes a certain number of people, while companies operating in the same airport shield themselves in the lack of direct “jurisdiction” to avoid responsibilities.

Ordinary citizens are subject to the regulations to the millimeter. Technical excuses are applied to corporations. And the commissioner who should break this incoherence remains in the comfortable plane of discourse and performance.

When the chips are down: Higgins, Laura Anderson, Fidel and DSA. And now, to that picture you add the recent scene: Eileen Higgins at a rally at MIA, from the political arm of unions and activists, once again selling herself as “the voice of working people.”

Laura Anderson, candidate of the Socialist Workers Party, present at the same protest, a woman who openly declares herself an admirer of Fidel Castro, who has traveled to Cuba several times as a “brigadista” and presents herself as a disciple of the revolutionary model that expelled hundreds of thousands of people who today live precisely in Miami.

The milieu of radical leftist organizations such as the DSA, which have been joining these struggles with a clear ideological agenda, far removed from the common sense of the silent majority in the county.

That’s where the saying fits perfectly: They are born alone… and the devil brings them together.

On the one hand, a Democratic commissioner who plays the moderate, but builds her career surrounded by unions, NGOs and “pro-worker” activism without touching the heart of the business.

On the other, a socialist candidate who vindicates Fidel Castro, backed by radical structures that see these conflicts in MIA as a political laboratory to push their agenda.

Both are in the same scenario, the same conflict and the same story: bad companies, victimized workers, and they, as saviors.

But if you look at the record of contracts, permits, votes and omissions… the story is different.

Bottom line: it’s not ignorance, it’s a pattern. When you put it all together – the “brave” visit to the airport, the unanswered letter, the excuse of lack of jurisdiction, the quiet signing of contracts, the photo at the demonstration, the de facto alliance with a disciple of Fidel and structures like DSA – what is left is not a misunderstanding.

It is a model of power: A system of precarious subcontracting that squeezes the worker to the maximum is maintained. The legitimate complaints of these workers are used as political fuel. Changes are promised in speeches, marches and public hearings. And at the moment of truth, where the small print that could change everything is written, the core of the business is not touched.

You already said it in a sentence that sums it all up: “So she spoke to get elected; from her commissioner’s chair, she has delivered… I doubt it.”

The video, the report and the protests do not disprove her. She is disproved by her own file.

Ethical Leadership for Miami: the checkbook that explains so much

If anyone still doubts the relationship between Eileen Higgins and developers, just look at the fine print of her economic machine. Her political committee, Ethical Leadership for Miami, filed its first documents on March 24, just a week before Higgins formally registered her mayoral campaign in April. The key detail: the PAC’s chairman is Christian Ulvert, the same man who serves as Higgins’ campaign manager.

In other words, the message and the checkbook pass through the same hands.

As of the end of June, the PAC had raised $250,700, while Higgins’ official campaign totaled another $88,325. In total, nearly $340,000, $132,000 of which had already been spent as of June 30. Not small money for a candidate who sells herself as “the voice of working people” and the champion of “affordable housing.”

Where does the money come from?
When one reviews the list of donors, the picture is clear:

• 50,000 (divided into four $12,500 contributions) from real estate developer Related Companies, which needs the county’s approval to build two towers of affordable and workforce housing, plus hotel and retail space across the street from Jackson Memorial in the Health District.
• $40,000 from the Miami-Dade Safe & Secure PC PAC, which Ulvert had previously used for James Reyes’ campaign for sheriff.
• $25,000 from pharmaceutical heiress and Democratic mega-donor Barbara Stiefel, a Coral Gables resident.
• $15,000 from the development firm PWV Group 1 Holdings, LLC, linked to the Miami Worldcenter project.
• 10,000 from developer Morgan Sirlin, vice president of Adler Development.
• 10,000 from LSN Partners, a heavyweight lobbying firm headed by Alex Heckler and Michael Llorente.
• 8,000 from four separate companies with the same address, linked to Terra Development CEO David Martin.
• And $5,000 contributions from figures such as Alex Heckler himself (in his individual capacity), lobbyist and former state legislator Manny Prieguez, and Alfonso Costa, COO of Falcone Group, another group strong in mixed-use projects.

The PAC doesn’t just raise money: it also sprinkles money into the inner circle itself. More than $51,000 has gone on “consulting, materials production, outreach and staffing” through Ulvert’s own firms. Another $31,980 in direct mail, campaign materials and digital advertising with MDW Communications (Michael Worley), the same consultant who did a poll last month. And $17,112 went to fundraising and events.

One detail that does not go unnoticed: the report includes a $2,568 reimbursement to Higgins herself and Maggie Fernandez, her county chief of staff, for travel, lodging and transportation expenses to attend the Democratic Party’s Blue Gala at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. An event that, perfectly well, they could have arrived at by car. That money goes through the PAC and ends up funding high-level partisan networking is not illegal, but it does reveal priorities.

There is a detail that is not minor and that almost never enters the official propaganda: Christian Ulvert is not only Higgins’ political brain; he is also a registered agent of the Qatari Embassy.

Ulvert is paid monthly to do communications and public relations for that regime. Florida Politics

Qatar is a country where, according to organizations such as Amnesty International, dissent is persecuted and same-sex relationships are criminalized. WLRN

Ulvert, who declares himself openly homosexual and is married to a man, recognizes that Qatari officials know who he is and how he lives, and yet he travels, advises and cleans up the international image of that government. The problem here is not his sexual orientation, but the brutal contradiction between the “pro-human rights, pro-minority, pro-equality” discourse he sells in Miami and the fact that he works -well paid- for a State that maintains laws and practices openly contrary to those freedoms.

To many critics, this doesn’t look like a simple PR contract: Qatar sets foot in Miami through a key consultant to the local Democratic establishment, with an eye first to the city and ultimately to political power throughout Miami-Dade.

All this draws a pattern:

• In public, Higgins presents herself as the champion of “affordable housing,” social justice and MIA workers.
• In practice, its main financial muscle comes from developers, lobbying firms and big blue donors with direct interests in real estate projects and county decisions.
• And the structure of the PAC allows the same consulting firms that manage your campaign to bill for much of the expenses.

What does this relationship hide?
No need to invent conspiracies: the numbers speak for themselves. If your campaign depends on millions in real estate projects, lobbyists and allied PACs, who are you going to answer to first when it comes time to decide on zoning, heights, densities and luxury-priced “affordable housing”?

That’s the real context when Higgins stands up at a workers’ rally or talks about protecting the ordinary neighbor. Behind the speech, the checkbook makes it clear who has a preferred seat at the table.

The Devil of Politics

Higgins and Anderson are born alone – one a pragmatic Democrat, the other an avowed socialist – but the devil brings them together in shared activism, progressive forums and protests that challenge the status quo.

Their leftist ideas, real or perceived, make them a symbol of Miamian divisions: do the people want a “female Mamdani” like Higgins, or do they reject Anderson’s radicalism? In a government armored to agendas, this union highlights how politics twists norms, fosters double standards and aligns opposites in the struggle for power.

December 9 will decide whether Miami embraces or rejects this diabolical pact.

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