Democrat Emily Gregory Flips State House
Emily Gregory Florida special election Mar-a-Lago 2026
In a stunning political upset that has reverberated from Palm Beach to Washington, Democrat Emily Gregory won a special election on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, flipping a Florida state House seat that includes President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Gregory, a first-time candidate and small-business owner, defeated Republican Jon Maples in the race for District 87, securing approximately 51% of the vote to Maples’s 49%.
The victory marks a significant shift for a district that had been reliably Republican; former Representative Mike Caruso won the seat by 19 percentage points in 2024 before resigning to become the Palm Beach County clerk and comptroller. According to official reports from The Associated Press, Gregory led by 797 votes with almost all ballots counted, prompting her to describe the win as a “fairly out-of-body experience.”
The race drew national attention due to its location in the President’s “backyard” and his active involvement in the contest. President Trump had enthusiastically endorsed Maples, a financial adviser and self-described “America First patriot,” and urged his followers on Truth Social to turn out for the Republican candidate.
Ironically, Palm Beach County records show that the President cast his own vote in the election via a mail-in ballot, a method he has frequently criticized as “mail-in cheating” during concurrent rallies in Tennessee. The Washington Post noted that Gregory’s campaign successfully pivoted away from national partisan rhetoric to focus on local kitchen-table issues, such as Florida’s skyrocketing insurance rates, housing affordability, and public education.
Democratic leadership has hailed the flip as a bellwether for the upcoming November 2026 midterms, suggesting that even historically safe Republican strongholds may be vulnerable. Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, stated that the 87th District is the 29th seat flipped by the party since the start of the current administration, citing voter frustration over “spiking gas prices and grocery costs.”
While Republicans still maintain a commanding supermajority in the Florida House, the loss in such a symbolic district has sparked internal discussions within the GOP regarding the effectiveness of presidential endorsements in suburban coastal areas. As reported by CBS News, the win provides a rare “shot of adrenaline” for Florida Democrats, who have struggled to regain footing in the state over the last several election cycles.
Click Here for more News.
