March 24, 2026 / 8:39 PM EDT / CBS/AP
Democrat Emily Gregory won a special election Tuesday for a Florida state House seat, The Associated Press projected, flipping a district that includes President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
Trump had endorsed Gregory’s Republican opponent, Jon Maples, and urged supporters to vote in a Truth Social post Monday, saying Maples was backed “by so many of my Palm Beach County friends.” Public records show Trump voted by mail in the contest, a voting method he has criticized as “mail-in cheating.”
With nearly all ballots counted, Gregory led by 2.4 percentage points, a margin of about 797 votes. The seat was previously held by Republican Mike Caruso, who resigned to become Palm Beach County clerk after winning the district by 19 points in 2024.
Democrats hailed the outcome as evidence of voter dissatisfaction with Trump and the GOP. Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, said the flip of the Mar-a-Lago district should worry Republicans and noted it is the 29th district Democrats have flipped from GOP control since Trump took office.
Williams added that rising gas and grocery costs have left voters frustrated. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee said last year it planned to spend millions to flip state legislative seats ahead of the 2026 midterms. Over the past 15 years, Democrats have lost roughly 800 state legislative seats, according to National Conference of State Legislatures data.