FLORIDA — Emily Gregory narrowly defeated Trump-endorsed candidate Jon Maples in the election for Florida's 87th house district. The district includes Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach County.

In 2024, the Republican incumbent in Florida's 87th house district won re-election by a margin of 19 percentage points. Gregory, a 40-year-old fitness center owner, attributed her victory to addressing constituent concerns.

"We're seeing a return to the [political] center," Gregory said.

"I've never seen Florida as this fixed, ruby-red state, and we've seen a state legislature that doesn't even attempt to tackle the kitchen table issues facing Floridians. They talk about how expensive Florida has become, how hard it is to make your bills, how people aren't able to save. I attribute our victory to having responded to their real priorities and needs," Gregory said.

Since January 2025, Democrats have flipped more than two dozen legislative districts held by Republican lawmakers nationwide. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is targeting hundreds of legislative seats at the state level in 42 senate and house chambers this fall.

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee plans to raise $50 million to fund the campaigns of Democratic candidates. An internal DLCC strategy memo issued late last year limited the party's ambitions in Florida for 2026 to reducing the Republican supermajorities in both houses of the state legislature.

Kevin Wagner, professor of political science at Florida Atlantic University and director of its Political Communication Lab, urged caution about interpreting the results. "You have to be very careful about reading too much into a special election result. The Democrats will say this is more evidence of a giant blue wave that will swamp Florida. But the state has trended Republican for the last 20 years, and that isn't likely to be reversed in a single year," Wagner said.

Danielle Alvarez, senior adviser at the Republican National Committee, characterized the race as reflecting local factors. "A low-turnout state house special election is a snapshot of local quirks, candidate dynamics and turnout math. [It is] not some grand verdict," Alvarez said.

Florida has delivered for Donald Trump in three consecutive presidential elections with an expanding margin of victory. Registered Republican voters in Florida outnumber registered Democrats by nearly 1.5 million.

No Democrat has won a statewide office in Florida since 2018. Throughout most of his term, the Florida state legislature has had supermajorities of 60% or more in both chambers.