Democrat Flips Florida State House Seat In Mar-A-Lago District

As the policies and decision-making from both President Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress continue to make everyday life worse for the average U.S. citizen, it’s looking increasingly likely that the midterms are going to be a bloodbath. Across several elections ahead of the midterms, Democrats have flipped nearly two dozen seats previously held by Republicans in state legislatures. In a victory laden with symbolism, Democrats flipped a state House seat in the Florida district where Mar-a-Lago is located. 

According to the New York Times, first-time candidate Emily Gregory beat Republican Jon Maples to represent Florida’s State House District 87. Trump won the district by 11 points during the 2024 election, and former Republican state Rep. Mike Caruso, who vacated the seat to become Palm Beach County clerk and comptroller, won the seat by 19 percentage points that same year.

Adding further insult to injury, Trump had endorsed Maples in January. Mar-a-Lago is a Trump-owned resort where he spends much of his time. Considering that the district is basically his backyard and he’s won it multiple times, it’s surprising his endorsement carried so little weight. 

Clearly, the tides are turning in Florida.

“Floridians are tired of the chaos, corruption, and sky-high prices on everything from groceries, to gas and health care,” Nikki Fried, chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party, said in a statement. “They are voting for trusted leaders like Emily to steady the ship and return common sense, people-centered solutions back to our communities.”

While the symbolism of the victory is striking, Emily Gregory’s win won’t change much in the state legislature, where Republicans still hold a supermajority. Gregory will serve out the remainder of Caruso’s term through the end of the year before running for reelection this November to serve a full, two-year term. 

While Florida has been reliably red for the last two decades, recent state elections suggest the state may be shifting back to its former status as a swing state. Boca Raton elected its first Democrat mayor in 45 years earlier this month, and Miami-Dade overwhelmingly voted for its first Democrat mayor in 30 years last December. 

Affordability was one of the main reasons Trump won the 2024 election, yet most of his actions throughout his second term have only exacerbated the issue. His erratic tariff policy increased the cost of basic goods, and his misguided war in Iran has drastically increased gas prices. Trump’s refusal to expand tax subsidies for insurance provided through the Affordable Care Act hit Floridians particularly hard, with hundreds of thousands of Florida residents having to either choose cheaper, less comprehensive health insurance plans or go completely uninsured.

Even immigration, which was one of the Republican Party’s strongest issues, has become a negative for them, given the reckless, violent ways in which ICE and CBP have conducted themselves during Trump’s mass deportation campaign. If the GOP is showing weakness in Florida, which has been a Trump stronghold for the last decade, it’s looking more and more likely that the Democrats actually have a chance to retake both the House and Senate during the midterms. 

One interesting sidenote of the Florida special election is that, according to CNN, Trump voted by using a mail-in ballot. Trump has spent the last six years attacking mail-in voting and is currently pushing Congress to pass legislation that would place significant restrictions on the method. 

While House Spokesperson Olivia Wales issued a statement saying Trump’s voter ID bill “has commonsense exceptions for Americans to use mail-in ballots for illness, disability, military, or travel.”

“As everyone knows, the President is a resident of Palm Beach and participates in Florida elections, but he obviously primarily lives at the White House in Washington, D.C.,” Wales wrote. “This is a non-story.”

At this point, Trump’s hypocrisy is far from shocking, but it really undermines his case that mail-in voting is such a dangerous thing for democracy when he’s perfectly fine using it himself.

SEE ALSO:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Announces Special Session For Redistricting

2026 Midterms Set To Be Least Competitive Due To Redistricting