This is not good news…
Democrats have just pulled off a historic upset in a deep-red district in Florida.
Tonight, Democrat Emily Gregory narrowly won a state House seat in the Palm Beach district that includes President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago.
The only silver lining is that this was a special legislative election, so Republicans have a chance to take back the seat during midterms this November.
Here are the details:
🚨 BREAKING: Democrats just narrowly FLIPPED the Florida House District that represents Donald Trump in the state legislature
The Trump+11 Palm Beach seat has elected Emily Gregory (D) over Jon Maples (R) with voter turnout below 30%
Republicans now hope to flip it back in Nov pic.twitter.com/ObiTfeMQIT
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) March 24, 2026
CNN declared Emily Gregory as the projected winner:
Democrat Emily Gregory will win a special state House election in a Palm Beach district that includes President Donald Trump's Florida home of Mar-a-Lago, CNN's Decision Desk projects, adding another special election win to a recent string of victories around the country for… pic.twitter.com/vsQwkeI3gQ
— CNN (@CNN) March 24, 2026
Emily Gregory was running against Trump-endorsed Republican Jon Maples.
Last night, President Trump put out a call for Floridians to vote for Maples.
But, ultimately, the election was decided against him by just around 700 votes.
Fox News has more:
The Associated Press reports that Democrat Emily Gregory defeated Republican Jon Maples in a special election in Florida’s House District 87, in the race to fill the seat left vacant last August, when GOP state Rep. Mike Caruso resigned to become Palm Beach County clerk and comptroller.
The ballot box battle was one of three special legislative elections being held in GOP-dominated Florida on Tuesday. And while the contests won’t change the balance of power in the state legislature, where for more than a quarter-century Republicans have held majorities in both the House and Senate chambers, bragging rights were up for grabs in the president’s home district.
ADVERTISEMENTMaples was backed by Trump, who moved his primary permanent residence in 2019 from Trump Tower in New York City to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. He is also backed by a number of top Sunshine State Republicans.
“There is a very important Special Election tomorrow, Tuesday, March 24th, for Florida State House District 87 in beautiful Palm Beach County — JON MAPLES HAS MY COMPLETE AND TOTAL ENDORSEMENT!” the president wrote in a social media post on Monday evening.
The 43-year-old Maples, a financial planner and former Lake Clarke Shores Council member who, during his years at Palm Beach Atlantic University was an all-American athlete, made cutting taxes and government spending, reducing regulations, promoting private sector job creation and advancing school choice.
Gregory, a 40-year-old Army spouse, owns and runs a Jupiter-based fitness center for pregnant and postpartum women. The first-time candidate made affordability, increasing public education, tackling rising property insurance and housing costs, and access to healthcare key parts of her campaign.
Maples was the favorite heading into the special election, thanks to his fundraising advantage in a district that leads to the right. Trump carried the district by roughly 10 points in his 2024 re-election victory. And Caruso won re-election in the district by 19 points.
During the 2024 election, President Trump won in this district by 11 points.
So, this really shouldn’t be in play for Democrats!
Let this be a lesson for Republicans ahead of midterms in just a few months…
Don’t be lazy.
Get out and VOTE!
Hopefully, this seat — and many more — will flip back red this November.
Any thoughts?



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