{"id":205137,"date":"2026-03-25T07:59:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T07:59:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/205137\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T07:59:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T07:59:24","slug":"who-is-emily-gregory-democrat-who-flipped-trumps-florida-state-house-district","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/205137\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Emily Gregory? Democrat Who Flipped Trump’s Florida State House District\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Emily Gregory, a Democratic small-business owner, won a special election<\/a> Tuesday to represent Florida<\/a>\u2019s 87th House District, a seat that includes President Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s Mar\u2011a\u2011Lago resort in Palm Beach County.<\/p>\n

Her victory flipped a Republican\u2011held district that Trump carried by double digits in the 2024 presidential election<\/a>, giving Democrats a rare win in one of the most symbolically charged districts in the Sunshine State.<\/p>\n

Newsweek reached out to Trump’s White House via email Tuesday night for comment.<\/p>\n

Why It Matters <\/p>\n

Gregory\u2019s victory in a Palm Beach County district that includes Mar-a-Lago gives Democrats a symbolic and strategic boost in a state where Republicans have held a supermajority, even though the result will ultimately not change control of the Florida Legislature, Politico reports.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"What To Know<\/p>\n

As of 8 p.m. Tuesday, Gregory had just over 51 percent of the vote, compared with just under 49 percent for Republican Jon Maples, with more than 95 percent of ballots counted. CNN and Decision Desk HQ called the race around 7:40 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n

The Associated Press reports that Gregory led\u00a0Maples with 797 votes, or 2.4 percent, with almost all of the votes counted. <\/p>\n

Maples, a former local council member who was endorsed by Trump<\/a>, was narrowly defeated in a race that drew national attention because of its location and timing amid a string of Democratic gains in special elections. The seat had been vacant since last year, when Republican Mike Caruso left the Legislature to take a county post. Caruso won the seat by 19 points in 2024.<\/p>\n

The district overlaps with the congressional districts of Representatives Lois Frankel, a Democrat, and Brian Mast, a Republican.<\/p>\n

\u201cMar-a-Lago just flipped red to blue, which should have Republicans sweating the midterms,\u201d Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, said in a statement shared with Newsweek in part. She said it is the 29th district that Democrats have flipped form GOP control since Trump took office.<\/a><\/p>\n

Florida Democrat Emily Gregory: What to Know<\/p>\n

Running for office for the first time, Gregory centered her campaign on rising costs of living, including housing, insurance and everyday expenses, rather than focusing heavily on Trump himself. She said her goal was to represent all voters in the district, even as national Democrats framed the race as a referendum on Republican strength in Trump\u2019s backyard.<\/p>\n

Gregory said in a recent interview that Trump was not the focal point in the election. <\/p>\n

She said, \u201cIt\u2019s impacted people\u2019s interest in talking to me about it. He is a constituent. But I am more focused on all 115,000 voters in District 87, not just the one.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cWe\u2019ve knocked all of the doors, we\u2019ve made all of the calls. I\u2019m really proud of the campaign we ran. I think it\u2019s going to be close, and I think we\u2019re going to come out on the right side of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

What People Are Saying <\/p>\n

Williams, in her statement sent to Newsweek in full: \u201cMar-a-Lago and Tampa just flipped red to blue, which should have Republicans sweating the midterms. A Trump +11 district in his own backyard shouldn\u2019t be in play for Democrats, but tonight proves Republicans are vulnerable everywhere. State Democrats have now flipped a staggering 30 districts red to blue since Trump\u2019s election. Gas prices are spiking, grocery costs are up, and families can\u2019t get by \u2013 it\u2019s clear voters at the polls are fed up with Republicans.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Mar-a-Lago and Tampa are vulnerable, imagine what\u2019s possible this November. Democrats are clearly on offense as we prepare for the most expansive midterm strategy ever down-ballot, with 650 seats in play. 2026 is shaping up to be an election for the history books.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump, on Truth Social Monday: “There is a very important Special Election tomorrow, Tuesday, March 24th, for Florida State House District 87 in beautiful Palm Beach County \u2014 JON MAPLES HAS MY COMPLETE AND TOTAL ENDORSEMENT!<\/p>\n

“Jon is a very successful Businessman and Civic Leader, who is known and loved, and also endorsed by so many of my Palm Beach County friends, including by Great State Representative ‘MAGA’ Meg Weinberger. Jon will be a terrific Legislator! As your next State Representative, Jon will fight tirelessly to Grow the Economy, Cut Taxes and Regulations, Promote MADE IN THE U.S.A., Stop Migrant Crime, Safeguard our Elections, Support our Military, Veterans, and Law Enforcement, and Defend our always under siege Second Amendment.<\/p>\n

“TO ALL GREAT PATRIOTS IN FLORIDA STATE HOUSE DISTRICT 87: GET OUT AND VOTE FOR JON MAPLES! Polls are open from 7:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M. JON WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN! Find your Voting Location here: swampthevoteusa.com\/jon-maples<\/a>“<\/p>\n

Update 3\/24\/26, 9:36 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Emily Gregory, a Democratic small-business owner, won a special election Tuesday to represent Florida\u2019s 87th House District, a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":205138,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[749,17532,409,2811,28,30,29,9098,6870,232],"class_list":["post-205137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-breaking-news","tag-democrat","tag-donald-trump","tag-election","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-mar-a-lago","tag-special-election","tag-tallahassee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}