Democrat flips seat in special election for Florida district that includes Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: AP

Updated 8:28 PM EDT, March 24, 2026


WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrat Emily Gregory won a special election for a Florida state House seat on Tuesday, flipping a district that is home to President Donald Trump’s estate, Mar-a-Lago.

The Republican president endorsed Gregory’s rival, Jon Maples. In a social media post Monday, he urged voters to turn out, saying Maples was endorsed “by so many of my Palm Beach County friends.”

Republican Mike Caruso, who resigned from the seat to become Palm Beach County’s clerk, won the district by 19 percentage points in 2024.

Democrats celebrated the victory as the latest sign voters are turning against Trump and the GOP. “Mar-a-Lago just flipped red to blue, which should have Republicans sweating the midterms,” said Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee. She said it is the 29th district that Democrats have flipped form GOP control since Trump took office.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/democrat-emily-gregory-florida-legislative-seat-maralago-899016be8e87645f7776fa0cca94e1bc

---

Didn't know if AP would call a small race like this but they did.

Article updated.

Original article/headline -

Democrat Emily Gregory wins special election for Florida legislative seat, flipping district

Updated 8:12 PM EDT, March 24, 2026


WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrat Emily Gregory won a special election for a Florida state House seat on Tuesday, flipping a district that is home to President Donald Trump’s estate, Mar-a-Lago.

The Republican president endorsed Gregory’s rival, Jon Maples.

Republican Mike Caruso, who resigned from the seat to become Palm Beach County’s clerk, won the district by 19 percentage points in 2024. Trump won the district by about 10 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election.

[Spazito]

1. I suspect seeing that trump's bordello-looking property is in this district...

it would be hard for AP to not call it and I love it!

[BumRushDaShow]

2. I expect that was the main reason!

[rubbersole]

6. Ouch.

Bordellos everywhere are saddened...

[Spazito]

7. LOL

[groundloop]

3. How long until tRump attempts to override the election with an Executive Order?

[mcar]

4. Woo and hoo!

Florida Blue!

[FakeNoose]

5. Chump endorsed her Repuke opponent Jon Maples, and it was worth zilch

Congratulations Emily Gregory and Florida Democrats!

[riversedge]

8. Democrat flips Florida state House seat in district that includes Mar-a-Lago, defeating Trump-backed GOP rival March 24

Democrat flips Florida state House seat in district that includes Mar-a-Lago, defeating Trump-backed GOP rival

March 24, 2026 / 8:39 PM EDT / CBS/AP


Democrat Emily Gregory won a special election for a Florida state House seat on Tuesday, The Associated Press has projected, flipping a district that is home to President Trump's estate, Mar-a-Lago.

The Republican president endorsed Gregory's rival, Jon Maples. In a Truth Social post Monday, he urged voters to turn out, saying Maples was endorsed "by so many of my Palm Beach County friends."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/democrat-emily-gregory-special-election-florida-trump-mar-a-lago/

[LetMyPeopleVote]

9. MaddowBlog-Special elections in Florida, including Mar-a-Lago's district, spell trouble for GOP

The more Democrats win closely watched races and flip seats from red to blue, the more Republicans should be concerned about the 2026 midterms.

The fact that Dems flipped the Mar-a-Lago district is amazing, the broader pattern is even more important:

The more Democrats win closely watched races, and flip seats from red to blue, the more Republicans should be terrified about the 2026 midterms.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-03-25T12:45:12.698Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/special-elections-in-florida-including-mar-a-lagos-district-spell-trouble-for-gop

Heading into Tuesday’s state legislative special election in Florida, Republicans had reason to be cautiously optimistic. The race was in a Palm Beach district that Donald Trump won by 11 points in 2024 (it’s the same district where Mar-a-Lago is located), and only about a third of local voters are registered Democrats.

And yet, the contest turned into the latest in a series of red-to-blue flips. MS NOW reported:

Democrats flipped a Republican-held seat in the Florida state House, with Emily Gregory winning a closely watched special election Tuesday night in a district that includes President Donald Trump’s home of Mar-a-Lago, according to The Associated Press.

Gregory beat Trump-endorsed Republican Jon Maples in the 87th District, which includes Palm Beach. With almost all votes counted, Gregory narrowly led by 2.4 percentage points, or 797 votes, according to the AP.

The president may try to downplay the results, but it was earlier this week when Trump not only voted for the Republican candidate but also described the contest as “a very important Special Election” while endorsing the GOP nominee.....

The Downballot noted in its latest analysis that if the vote tallies in the Tampa area hold, Democrats will have flipped 30 seats from red to blue in special elections since Trump returned to the White House. Over that same period, the number of seats flipped from blue to red remains zero.

Some will no doubt argue that it’s best not to read too much into a special election held in the winter, several months before November’s races. It’s a fair point. But what matters is how the results fit into the broader political landscape. Republicans are tied to an unpopular president, a growing number of their congressional members are retiring, key elements of the GOP agenda are facing an intensifying public backlash, and they keep losing special elections, including in contests they expected to win.

If party insiders aren’t concerned about their standing ahead of this year’s midterm elections, they’re not paying close enough attention.