PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (CBS12) — In the heart of Tallahassee, 120 chairs line the floor of the Florida House of Representatives. But one of them – representing more than 114,000 Palm Beach County residents – has sat empty for months.
Florida’s House District 87, which stretches from Lantana to Juno Beach and includes parts of Palm Beach, Riviera Beach, North Palm Beach, and Lake Worth Beach, has gone unrepresented since August. That’s when former Representative Mike Caruso resigned his seat after being appointed Palm Beach County’s Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller.
Under Florida Statute 100.101, vacancies in the Legislature shall be filled by a special election. But nearly two months later, Governor Ron DeSantis has yet to announce when – or if – he’ll schedule one.
Democratic candidate Emily Gregory, a Palm Beach Gardens small-business owner, filed a lawsuit this month asking the governor to follow state law and call a special election.
“I can’t speak to motive, but the effect is the same — the people of District 87, coastal Palm Beach County, are being denied representation,” Gregory told CBS12 News. “And at a time when the affordability crisis is affecting all of us — with skyrocketing property insurance and rising grocery bills — we need a voice in Tallahassee.”
Gregory’s petition for a writ of mandamus cites Florida’s statutory language as clear and mandatory, not discretionary.
The filing notes that 114,648 registered voters in District 87 are “paying taxes to a government in which they currently have no elected representation.”
“We just want the voters to be able to elect a representative,” Gregory added. “There’s no reason for the seat to go vacant and for the people of House District 87 to be denied a voice in the next session. There are really important issues that need to be figured out — property insurance, rising costs of goods — and voters in Palm Beach County are really feeling the squeeze.”
Republican candidate Gretchen Miller Feng acknowledges that state law requires a special election but points out the governor’s discretion in setting the timeline.
“There’s a requirement to have a special election when a seat is left vacant,” Feng said. “However, the governor does have executive discretion — if he feels there’s not enough time to do a primary and then a special election, that’s his decision.”
“It could be cost-of-living adjustments,” she added. “As of right now, if you join the firefighters after 2014, you don’t get a cost-of-living adjustment — and that’s a very hot-button issue for them. So that will not be represented in Tallahassee in January.”
That timing could stretch into the 2026 session.
Lawmakers return to Tallahassee in January to debate a host of statewide issues — including proposals to cap property-insurance rate hikes at 15 percent (SB 30), expand the Live Local Act, allowing more affordable housing development statewide, overhaul school-funding formulas, and divide a $117 billion state budget.
Feng says the vacancy means those votes will move forward without any input from District 87.
See also: Candidate files lawsuit to force Gov. DeSantis to call special election in Palm Beach Co.
“They won’t have anyone advocating for them,” Feng said. “It could be property taxes, education funding, cost-of-living adjustments — those issues won’t be represented in Tallahassee.”
For Laura Levites, another Democratic candidate in the race, the situation is personal.
“This is taxation without representation,” Levites said. “I learned that in middle school — and here I am, living it.”
Levites said the district faces a unique mix of coastal and economic pressure, from rising flood-insurance costs to infrastructure delays. She points to recent FEMA flood-map updates, which added roughly 6,000 new flood zones statewide — including 2,000 within District 87.
“People now have to buy flood insurance,” she said. “I just don’t know how we’re supposed to live.”
Without a state representative to file local funding requests or advocate during committee weeks, Levites warns, District 87 could miss out on storm-resilience grants, school safety improvements, and beach-renourishment dollars that other areas secure through direct legislative advocacy.
Several Palm Beach County voters told CBS12 News they were unaware their district currently has no representative.
“I didn’t know about it,” one man said. “When something’s left open that long, it just feels like there’s no urgency.”
“It’s not fair for one county to not have representation,” another resident said. “Why are you taxing us if you’re not representing us?”
Political observers note that Florida governors typically move quickly to fill legislative vacancies. In past years, special elections have been called within weeks of a resignation.
The delay in District 87 now stretches into the window when lawmakers begin committee meetings and bill filing ahead of the 2026 session, which convenes January 13.
The governor’s office did not respond to requests for comment on when a special election might be called or why the decision has been delayed.
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