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Emily Gregory, a Democrat, won a special election this week and now represents the district that includes Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.| AP<\/p>\n
PALM BEACH, Fla.\u2014President Donald Trump just lost a state House seat in his own backyard, literally. Progressive Democrat Emily Gregory, a young public health professional, won a special election for that seat in the district that includes Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago estate.<\/p>\n
Gregory was one of two notable Democratic winners in special elections in the Sunshine State on March 24. In Hillsborough County (Tampa), Brian Nathan, a Local 915 Electrical Workers (IBEW) organizer and a Navy veteran, won a state senate seat. Both triumphed in GOP strongholds.<\/p>\n
Their wins continue a pattern that lasted all through last year and has continued in 2026. It shows voters want candidates who stand up for progressive values and say so.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In election after election, from U.S. House races in Virginia and governorships there and in New Jersey, to the New York City mayor\u2019s race last fall and the Illinois U.S. Senate Democratic nomination on March 17, progressive candidates who were unafraid to take strong stands won\u2014often against much better-financed right-wing foes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the Tampa area, Nathan beat GOP State Rep. Josie Tomkow by 408 votes for an open seat there for the months remaining in a four-year state senate term. He succeeds a GOP incumbent, now lieutenant governor, who won re-election in 2022 by 10 percentage points.<\/p>\n
Gregory and Nathan won with around 51% each. Both seats were local GOP strongholds. Trump won Gregory\u2019s state House district by 11 percentage points in 2024 over Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. Gregory\u2019s GOP predecessor won re-election by 19 points.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Both Nathan and Gregory are new faces, as first-time candidates. So was Machinists Texas State President Taylor Rehmet. He won by double digits in a state senate seat in Fort Worth that Trump carried by 17 points. The GOP had held that seat since 1979. Rehmet also ran on a progressive platform, including aid to public schools and health care for all.<\/p>\n
Gregory\u2019s win, literally in Trump\u2019s backyard, drew international attention from the British Broadcasting Corporation. Both Gregory and Nathan were outspent by their GOP opponents, but the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, the PAC for the party\u2019s state legislative candidates nationally, helped Gregory. She beat a financial consultant, Jon Maples.<\/p>\n
Nathan won a purple district that includes part of Democratic-leaning Tampa but also its GOP-leading suburbs. Both picked up the endorsement of the Florida AFL-CIO and of groups representing LGBTQ people and voters of color.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nathan added endorsements from IBEW and the Hillsborough County Teachers Association. Editorials of both major newspapers in Gregory\u2019s district, the Palm Beach Post and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, backed her. So did the Palm Beach AFL-CIO and the Service Employees.<\/p>\n
Both also ran on putting people over politics. Gregory blasted what she called rampant corruption in\u00a0the state capital of Tallahassee, blaming it on donors whose campaign dollars affect lawmakers.<\/p>\n
Gregory also noted 11% of Floridians are uninsured, a figure that will only worsen with Trump\u2019s cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. \u201cHealth care is a human right,\u201d Gregory declared on her site.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And in a state with some of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the U.S., she\u2019s pro-choice. \u201cI want to write Roe v Wade into law,\u201d she says of the pro-abortion national constitutional protection which the right-wing GOP U.S. Supreme Court majority killed in 2022. That left abortion protection to the states.<\/p>\n
And Gregory linked lack of health care, and affordability\u2014or lack of it\u2014in high-cost southeastern Florida to political corruption by corporate donors.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe corruption tax in Tallahassee is one we\u2019re all paying with skyrocketing costs and wages that\u00a0can\u2019t keep up,\u201d her website says. \u201cIt is wrong for politicians to do the bidding of the corporate elite donors who are funding their campaigns while families and seniors who have\u00a0worked hard are still finding it hard to pay the bills each month.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need elected leaders who work for us, to lower our costs, raise our wages, and provide hardworking Floridians with tools we need to build a brighter future for ourselves and our families.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also wants to fully fund Florida\u2019s public schools and their teachers. She calls vouchers\u2014a favorite tool of the radical right, including Trump and GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis\u2014a backdoor subsidy for the rich.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nathan hit many of the same themes. He also emphasized bringing \u201cgood-paying jobs with strong labor protections\u201d to Florida. The right-to-work (for less) state is one of the least-unionized in the U.S., federal calculations show: 5.4% or 503,000 unionists last year, up 41,000 (0.3%) from 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cI put on the uniform and served this country\u201d for 16 years, \u201cand I\u2019ve been working as an electrician and IBEW member for years,\u201d Nathan said on his website. \u201cI know what it\u2019s like to work for a living and worry about making ends meet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cToo many politicians in Tallahassee have never gotten their hands dirty or missed a paycheck. I\u2019m running because working families need someone who understands and will fight for them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s time to demand decent wages, take care of our veterans, and quit playing games with people\u2019s lives. I\u2019m running because working families need someone who understands and will fight for them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
We hope you appreciated this article. At\u00a0People\u2019s World, we believe news and information should be free and accessible to all, but we need your help. Our journalism is free of corporate influence and paywalls because we are totally reader-supported. Only you, our readers and supporters, make this possible. If you enjoy reading\u00a0People\u2019s World\u00a0and the stories we bring you, please\u00a0support our work by donating or becoming a monthly sustainer today<\/a>. Thank you!<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCONTRIBUTOR<\/p>\n
![\"Mark](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/200x262shearon.jul10-200x200.jpg\")
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