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Eileen Higgins Wins Miami-Dade Commission Seat Runoff Election

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Some Miami-Dade residents voted for a new county commissioner Tuesday.

There was a runoff election to fill the empty District 5 seat previously held by Bruno Barreiro, who resigned to run for U.S. Congress.

The two candidates are Zoraida Barreiro, the former commissioner's wife, and Eileen Higgins, a marketing executive.

Late Tuesday the results came in that Higgins defeated Barreiro to claim the commission seat. She received 53% of the vote.

Higgins finished first in the four-candidate primary back in May and Barreiro came in second, but neither received 50-percent of the total vote prompting the run-off race.

Residents who live in parts of Miami Beach, Brickell, Little Havana, Coral Way, and West Flagler were able to participate in the vote.

District 5 has about 95,000 registered voters, roughly 7 percent of the county's voter total.

Approximately 14% of those registered voters cast ballots in Tuesday's runoff election.

Higgins will now finish out Barreiro's remaining two years on the 13-seat commission.

To see a map of the district, click here.

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