In a major setback for the Republican Party, Democrats secured a win in a Florida state legislature special election on Tuesday. In doing so, they flipped the 87th House district, a longtime Republican stronghold that is also home to Mar-a-Lago, the sprawling resort complex that President Donald Trump has called his residence since 1985.
Democrats hailed the victory in the previously Republican-controlled House District 87 as a sign that voters are turning against Republicans and Trump before November’s midterm elections, reported multiple US news outlets.
The Florida win is the latest in a string of lopsided victories pulled off by the Democratic Party in special elections which have seen red seats in states like Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia among others flipping blue.
According to a report by the news agency Associated Press (AP), the elections in Florida were necessitated by the stepping down of Mike Caruso, a Republican who resigned to become Palm Beach County’s clerk. Caruso had won the seat by 19 percentage points in 2024. In response, the Republicans nominated local businessperson and civic leader, John Maples.
Maples, had on Monday received the personal endorsement of Trump, who wrote on Truth Social, “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!” reported the US-based news outlet, Voz.
The Democrats, on the other hand, nominated Emily Gregory. According to AP, Gregory is a political debutant who has never run for political office, is the owner of a fitness company that works with pregnant and postpartum women, and had centred her campaign around the issues of affordability, healthcare and housing.
In the elections, Gregory polled a total of 17,047 votes, accounting for 51.15% of the total. Maples, on the other hand, received 16,281 votes, or 48.85%. A total of 33,328 votes were counted in the final tally. According to the US-based news outlet, WPTV, the contest came down to the turnout among non-party-affiliated voters. These voters make up roughly a quarter of Florida’s electorate and have shown signs of leaning Democratic in recent elections.
WHY IS THIS WIN SPECIAL FOR THE DEMOCRATS?
The Democrat’s flipping of District 87 is the latest in a string of electoral victories ever since the second Trump administration won the keys to the White House. According to a report by The New York Times, since 2024, Democrats have flipped more than two dozen seats in Republican or battleground states, including ones in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, New Hampshire, Georgia among others, with many of them being previously red bastions.
In contrast, the Republicans have failed to flip a single blue seat in the same time period.
The state of Florida has been a Republican stronghold since at least 2012, which was the last time that a Democratic presidential candidate won the state’s electoral votes. This year, though, the state has displayed a sudden affinity for the Democrats.
The New York Times noted that Gregory’s victory is hardly the first Democrat win in 2026. According to the paper, earlier this year, the city of Boca Raton elected its first Democratic mayor in 45 years earlier this month. Meanwhile, the state’s capital, Miami, in December 2025, had elected its first Democrat mayor in at least 30 years.
The recent string of Democrat victories comes ahead of the critical November mid-term polls, which will see the Republicans and the Democrats wrestle for control of the US House of Representatives as well as the Senate. Democrats celebrated the victory as the latest sign voters are turning against Trump and Republicans ahead of the midterm elections in November, reported AP.
DEMOCRAT-WON SEAT INCLUDES TRUMP’S MAR-A-LAGO ESTATE
Perhaps the factor that should make the Democrat victory in Florida particularly significant, is the fact it is also where incumbent US President Donald Trump’s longtime residence, the Mar-a-Lago estate, is also located.
The Mar-a-Lago estate was first acquired by Trump back in 1985, who subsequently shifted there from New York, and has been a Florida resident since his first term in office. The estate has since then become a gathering place for Trump’s friends and allies, as well as business executives and foreign leaders.
In addition to endorsing the Republican candidate, Trump also voted in the elections via postal ballot. Note, Trump has been a vocal opponent of the same mail-in voting system he used, with NBC news quoting him as saying on Monday, “Mail-in voting means mail-in cheating. I call it mail-in cheating, and we got to do something about it all.”
Speaking to AP, Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee stated, “If Mar-a-Lago is vulnerable, imagine what’s possible this November.” Meanwhile, Trump immediately distanced himself from the loss in a district he’d won by 17 points in 2024, saying, “I’m not involved in that” even though he had endorsed the Republican candidate.
