MIAMI — It has been nearly three decades since a Democrat held the mayor’s office in Miami, a span of futility the party is hoping to reverse during a special runoff election this week in one of the last electoral showdowns before next year’s midterms.

While it is a local race, this election has become the latest test of the nation’s political mood nearly a year into President Donald Trump’s second term.

Trump and other big-name Florida Republicans, including Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Rick Scott, have weighed in for the conservative candidate, former city manager Emilio Gonzalez, in the otherwise nonpartisan race. Nationally known Democrats, including former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, have offered support on behalf of Eileen Higgins, a Democrat who served on the county com

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