Democrat candidate Emily Gregory won the special election Tuesday for Florida House District 87, defeating Republican Jon Maples in a Palm Beach County race that drew national attention because the district includes Palm Beach and the area around President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.
Election-night results from the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections showed Gregory with 17,113 votes, or 51.19%, to Maples’ 16,316 votes, or 48.81%, with all 156 precincts reporting.
The race was held to fill the seat vacated by former Republican Rep. Mike Caruso, whom Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Palm Beach County clerk and comptroller in August 2025. District 87 covers a large stretch of coastal Palm Beach County, and county election materials listed 116,128 registered voters for the special election.
Turnout reached 33,470 ballots cast, or 28.82%, according to election-night reporting.
The contest had been viewed as an early test of political energy ahead of the 2026 midterms. Trump endorsed Maples on the eve of the election, and national outlets noted that Trump carried the district by roughly 11 percentage points in 2024. Gregory’s victory therefore marked a Democratic flip in a seat Republicans had been expected to defend. (Axios)
Following the defeat, Florida House Republican Campaign Committee Chair, Speaker-Designate Sam Garrison said that “Maples ran an extremely strong campaign but ultimately came up short. Jon fought valiantly in the face of low Republican turnout due to awkward special election timing, and despicable, dark-money racial attacks from Democrat criminal defense lawyers pretending to be Republicans.”