Democrat Emily Gregory won the special election to represent a Florida state house district that includes President Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago home on Tuesday, according to Associated Press projections, a stunning upset that signals Democratic momentum ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Gregory, a first-time candidate, defeated Jon Maples, a Republican endorsed by Trump and aligned with his policies. Mike Caruso, the Republican who vacated the seat to become Palm Beach County clerk and comptroller, won the district by 19 percentage points in 2024.
“Tonight’s result sends a clear message that people want Florida to move in a new direction, one where leaders focus on lowering costs and standing up for working families,” Gregory said in a statement to The Washington Post.
Maples and the White House did not immediately return requests for comment.
Gregory’s campaign tried to focus more on local issues than the national political atmosphere despite running to represent the president’s home.
The Democrat’s victory is a coup for the party, which has struggled for years in Florida as the state moved to the right since Trump’s first presidential win in 2016. The win is also the latest in a string of overperformances by Democrats in elections since the start of Trump’s second term in 2025.
“I saw this seat as an opportunity. … I think it’s a flippable district,” Gregory told The Post days before the election.
Trump, who is pressuring senators to curb the use of mail-in voting, voted by mailin the contest. The president’s decision to vote by mail comes as he pushes the Save America Act — a sweeping bill to overhaul nationwide balloting, including by restricting mail-in voting — and derides vote-by-mail at events.
“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, a group that supported Gregory. “If Mar-a-Lago is vulnerable, imagine what’s possible this November.”
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