Politics

Thanksgiving Day dinner coming down slightly in prices this year

Published

4 weeks ago

November 9, 2025

With only two and a half weeks left before Thanksgiving Day, Americans are gearing up to buy goods for dinner on that autumnal holiday and it might cost less to purchase the supplies for that feast.

Wells Fargo published a study that shows the cost of a 10-person dinner on Thanksgiving Nov. 25 is starting to slide a bit by about 2% to 3%. The financial institution’s study published in the past week indicates a dinner for family and friends on the holiday would likely cost around $80, a decrease compared to 2024. But there are some conditions to consider.

“An all private-label (store brand) menu comes in at $80, while an all national-name brand menu totals $95. Budget conscious consumers will also have room to mix and match based on preference,” the Wells-Fargo analysis concluded.

Of course, the lower prices are translating into political fodder. At the White House, President Donald Trump’s administration is seizing on the lower prices.

“It’s proof that under President Trump’s leadership, America is winning the war on high prices — even as Democrats grind the country to a halt with their deranged, reckless government shutdown,” said a White House news release.

A key element to the lower price of Thanksgiving dinner is the cost of turkey. The study found retail prices for turkey are down about 3.7% from a year ago for national brands.

“The turkey industry takes orders from the supermarkets months in advance for Thanksgiving. It looks like producers picked the right number of birds to prepare, and the price reflects the lower cost of feeding turkeys in a competitive market. While turkey is the clear winner for the centerpiece of the table, if guests are not fans of the bird, roast chicken and spiral cut ham are other moderately priced proteins to consider when feeding a crowd,” the Wells-Fargo report said.

Across the board, other foods and supplemental dishes for Thanksgiving dinner also are costing less. National brand frozen vegetables are estimated to cost 15% less this year. Cranberries, gravy, rolls and pumpkin pie are also down 22%, but that’s for the private-brand choices of those foods. Mashed potatoes are down by about 1.5%.

There are some elements of Thanksgiving Day dinner that are costing a bit more. Salad mixes increased about 0.3% with whipped cream up 3%. Beer is also up by 3%, though wine is about stable with a 0.1% drop from a year ago and soft drinks are falling by about 3% from a year ago.

Source link

Politics

Early voting underway for Miami Mayor’s runoff between Eileen Higgins, Emilio González

Published

48 minutes ago

December 6, 2025

May Greene

Early voting is underway in Miami as former County Commissioner Eileen Higgins and former City Manager Emilio González enter the final stretch of a closely watched Dec. 9 mayoral runoff.

The two candidates rose from a 13-person field Nov. 4, with Higgins winning about 36% of the vote and González taking 19.5%. Because neither surpassed 50%, Miami voters must now choose between contrasting visions for a city grappling with affordability, rising seas, political dysfunction and rapid growth.

Both promise to bring more stability and accountability to City Hall. Both say Miami’s permitting process needs fixing.

Higgins, a mechanical engineer and eight-year county commissioner with a broad, international background in government service, has emphasized affordable housing — urging the city to build on public land and create a dedicated housing trust fund — and supports expanding the City Commission from five to nine members to improve neighborhood representation.

She also backs more eco-friendly and flood-preventative infrastructure, faster park construction and better transportation connectivity and efficiency.

She opposes Miami’s 287(g) agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, calling recent enforcement “inhumane and cruel,” and has pledged to serve as a full-time mayor with no outside employment while replacing City Manager Art Noriega.

González, a retired Air Force colonel, former Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and ex-CEO of Miami International Airport, argues Miami needs an experienced administrator to fix what he calls deep structural problems.

He has made permitting reform a top priority, labeling the current system as barely functioning, and says affordability must be addressed through broader tax relief rather than relying on housing development alone.

He supports limited police cooperation with ICE and wants Miami to prepare for the potential repeal of homestead property taxes. Like Higgins, he vows to replace Noriega but opposes expanding the commission.

He also vows, if elected, to establish a “Deregulation Task Force” to unburden small businesses, prioritizing capital investments that protect Miamians, increasing the city’s police force, modernizing Miami services with technology and a customer-friendly approach, and rein in government spending and growth.

Notably, Miami’s Nov. 4 election this year might not have taken place if not for González, who successfully sued in July to stop officials from delaying its election until 2026.

The runoff has drawn national attention, with major Democrats like Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, Arizona U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego and Orange County Mayor-turned-gubernatorial candidate Jerry Demings and his wife, former Congresswoman Val Demings, backing Higgins and high-profile Republicans like President Donald Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis and U.S. Sen. Rick Scott lining up behind González.

For both parties, Miami’s outcome is seen as a bellwether heading into a volatile 2026 cycle, in a city where growth, climate challenges and governance failures remain top concerns for nearly 500,000 residents.

Higgins, a 61-year-old Democrat who was born in Ohio and grew up in New Mexico, entered the race as the longest-serving current member of the Miami-Dade Commission. She won her seat in a 2018 Special Election and coasted back into re-election unopposed last year.

She chose to vacate her seat three years early to run for Mayor.

She worked for years in the private sector, overseeing global manufacturing in Europe and Latin America, before returning stateside to lead marketing for companies such as Pfizer and Jose Cuervo.

In 2006, she took a Director job with the Peace Corps in Belize, after which she served as a foreign service officer for the U.S. State Department under President Barack Obama, working in Mexico and in economic development areas in South Africa.

Since filing in April, Higgins raised $386,500 through her campaign account. She also amassed close to $658,000 by the end of September through her county-level political committee, Ethical Leadership for Miami. Close to a third of that sum — $175,000 — came through a transfer from her state-level PC.

She also spent about $881,000.

If elected, Higgins would make history as Miami’s first woman Mayor.

González, a 68-year-old born in Cuba, brought the most robust government background to the race. A U.S. Army veteran who rose to the rank of colonel, he served as Miami City Manager from 2017 to 2020, CEO of Miami International Airport (MIA) from 2013 to 2017 and as Director of Citizenship and Immigration Services at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under President George W. Bush.

In private life, he works as a partner at investment management firm RSMD Investco LLC. He also serves as a member of the Treasury Investment Council under the Florida Department of Financial Services.

Since filing to run for Mayor in April, he raised nearly $1.2 million and spent about $1 million.

Election Day is Tuesday.

Source link

Politics

Paul Renner doubles down on Cory Mills critique, urges more Republicans to join him

Published

2 hours ago

December 6, 2025

May Greene

Mills was a day-one Byron Donalds backer in the gubernatorial race.

A former House Speaker and current candidate for Governor is leading the charge for Republicans as scandal swirls around a Congressman.

Saying the “evidence is mounting” against Rep. Cory Mills, Paul Renner says other candidates for Governor should “stand up and be counted” and join him in the call for Mills to leave Congress.

Renner made the call earlier this week.

But on Friday, the Palm Coast Republican doubled down.

He spotlighted fresh reporting from Roger Sollenberger alleging that Mills’ company “appears to have illegally exported weapons while he serves in Congress, including to Ukraine,” that Mills failed to disclose conflicts of interest, “tried to fistfight other Republican members of Congress, and lied about his party stature to bully other GOP candidates out of primaries that an alleged romantic interest was running in,” and lied about his conversion to Islam.

The House Ethics Committee is already probing Mills, a New Smyrna Beach Republican, over allegations of profiting from federal defense contracts while in Congress. More recently, the Committee expanded its work to review allegations that he assaulted one ex-girlfriend and threatened to share intimate photos of another.

Other candidates have been more reticent in addressing the issue, including Rep. Byron Donalds.

“When any other members have been involved and stuff like this, my advice is the same,” said Donalds, a Naples Republican. “They need to actually spend a lot more time in the district and take stock of what’s going on at home, and make that decision with their voters.”

The response came less than a year after Mills, a New Smyrna Beach Republican, spoke at the launch of Donalds’ gubernatorial campaign.

___

Staff writer Jacob Ogles contributed reporting.

Source link

Politics

Eileen Higgins brings out starpower as special election campaign nears close

Published

2 hours ago

December 6, 2025

May Greene

Prominent Democrats will be on hand at a number of stops.

Former Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins is enlisting more big names as support at early vote stops ahead of Tuesday’s special election for Mayor, including a Senate candidate, a former Senate candidate, and a current candidate for Governor.

During her canvass kickoff at 10 a.m at Elizabeth Virrick Park, Higgins will appear with U.S. Senate Candidate Hector Mujica.

Early vote stops follow, with Higgins solo at the 11 a.m. show-up at Miami City Hall and the 11:30 at the Shenandoah Library.

From there, big names from Orlando will be with the candidate.

Orange County Mayor and candidate for Florida Governor Jerry Demings and former Congresswoman Val Demings will appear with Higgins at the Liberty Square Family & Friends Picnic (2 p.m.), Charles Hadley Park (3 p.m.), and the Carrie P. Meek Senior and Cultural Center (3:30 p.m.)

Higgins, who served on the County Commission from 2018 to 2025, is competing in a runoff for the city’s mayoralty against former City Manager Emilio González. The pair topped 11 other candidates in Miami’s Nov. 4 General Election, with Higgins, a Democrat, taking 36% of the vote and González, a Republican, capturing 19.5%.

To win outright, a candidate had to receive more than half the vote. Miami’s elections are technically nonpartisan, though party politics frequently still play into races.

Source link