A coastal Palm Beach County special election to fill a vacant statehouse seat attracted national attention when the Democratic candidate defeated her Republican rival in a district that includes President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.
Democrat Emily Gregory, a small-business owner from Jupiter, beat Republican Jon Maples, a financial planner and former Lake Clarke Shores council member who had been endorsed by Trump — with the president voting by mail-in ballot in the March 24 election.
Gregory captured slightly more than 51% of the vote in the unofficial count reported on the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections website as of March 27.
The District 87 house seat includes most of Manalapan, the eastern part of Lantana, plus South Palm Beach and points north to Juno Beach. It had been held by Republican Mike Caruso, whom Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Palm Beach County’s clerk of courts and comptroller in August. The previous clerk, Joseph Abruzzo, left the position after being hired as county administrator.
DeSantis scheduled the election for Caruso’s replacement to be held after the 2026 session of the state Legislature was to have ended, but lawmakers are expected back in April because they still need to approve a state budget.
Gregory may not have much of a say as the GOP has a supermajority in the state Legislature.
And she won’t have much of a chance to warm her seat, as it goes up for election again in November for a full two-year term.
The election provided fodder for the nation’s political pundits trying to divine clues for how Republicans who control the U.S. House and Senate might perform in November’s congressional elections.
The unofficial results of the District 87 race showed Gregory with 17,122 votes to Maples’ 16,322, an 800-vote margin.
— Larry Barszewski
FL House District 87
Special election*
E. Gregory (D) 17,122
J. Maples (R) 16,322
*Unofficial results
Source: Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections
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