Democrat Emily Gregory won a Florida special election on Tuesday, flipping a state legislative seat in a district that includes Mar-a-Lago, the Palm Beach estate President Donald Trump counts as his residence, according to results reported by The Associated Press.
The race took place after Trump endorsed Gregory’s rival, Jon Maples. In a social media post Monday, Trump urged voters to turn out, saying Maples was backed “by so many of my Palm Beach County friends.”
Democrats celebrated Gregory’s win as evidence they could make additional gains ahead of November’s midterm elections. Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, said the victory showed voters were “fed up with Republicans,” pointing to rising gas prices and grocery costs. Williams also said the seat was the 29th Democrats have flipped from Republican control since Trump took office.
With almost all votes counted, Gregory led by 2.4 percentage points, which AP reported as a margin of 797 votes. Gregory grew up north of Palm Beach in Stuart, worked as the owner of a fitness company that works with pregnant and postpartum women, and had not previously run for elected office, AP reported. Speaking to MSNBC after the win, Gregory said she was “pretty shocked” and “having a fairly out-of-body experience,” according to AP’s report.
The district’s previous representative was Republican Mike Caruso, who resigned from the seat to become Palm Beach County’s clerk. AP reported that Caruso won the seat by 19 percentage points in 2024.
In Trump’s response to the loss, AP reported that he immediately distanced himself from the defeat in a district he won by 17 points in 2024, saying “I’m not involved in that” even though he had endorsed the Republican candidate. AP also reported that Trump voted by mail in the Tuesday election and that his ballot was counted, according to Palm Beach County voter records.
Democrats pointed to additional special-election results in Republican-leaning places to bolster their momentum narrative. AP noted that Democrat Eileen Higgins won the race for Miami mayor in December, and that Democrat Taylor Rehmet flipped a state Senate district in Texas in a special election in January.
Democrats also framed the Mar-a-Lago district win as more significant because it occurred in the president’s political neighborhood. Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said Trump’s “own neighbors just sent a crystal clear message: They are furious and ready for change,” according to AP.
The Associated Press noted that Trump changed his personal residence and voter registration to Florida during his first term and has spent many weekends at Mar-a-Lago, which AP described as a gathering place for Trump’s allies, business executives and foreign leaders seeking access to him.
In addition to the race itself, AP reported that Trump has publicly batted mail voting as a source of fraud while pushing Congress to curtail the practice—though his ballot was counted in Tuesday’s election, according to Palm Beach County voter records cited by AP.