Democrats are ecstatic after flipping a Republican-controlled legislative seat in a right-leaning, Palm Beach, Florida-anchored district that includes Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s home turf.
“If Democrats can win in Trump’s own backyard, we can win anywhere. From now until November, Democrats are all gas and no brakes as we compete across every corner of Florida and the nation,” Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin emphasized as he pointed to this year’s midterm elections, when the GOP will be defending its narrow House and Senate majorities.
Martin released his statement on Tuesday night, minutes after Democrat Emily Gregory defeated Republican Jon Maples in a special election in Florida’s House District 87, in the race to fill the seat left vacant last August, when GOP state Rep. Mike Caruso resigned to become Palm Beach County clerk and comptroller.
But the rival Republican National Committee (RNC), pointing to the ballot box setback, stressed that Democrats were overplaying their hand and that special elections are far from the best barometer of things to come.
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“A low-turnout state House special election is a snapshot of local quirks, candidate dynamics, and turnout math — not some grand verdict,” RNC Senior Adviser Danielle Alvarez said in a statement.
While Gregory’s victory won’t change the balance of power in the state legislature, where for more than a quarter-century Republicans have held majorities in both the House and Senate chambers, bragging rights were up for grabs in the president’s home district.
And Maples was backed by Trump, who moved his primary permanent residence in 2019 from Trump Tower in New York City to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.
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“There is a very important Special Election tomorrow, Tuesday, March 24th, for Florida State House District 87 in beautiful Palm Beach County — JON MAPLES HAS MY COMPLETE AND TOTAL ENDORSEMENT!” the president wrote in a social media post on Monday evening.
Palm Beach County has leaned blue for decades, but Republicans have made major gains there at the ballot box in recent election cycles.
Gregory’s upset, in a district that in the 2024 elections Trump carried by 10 points and Caruso won by 19 points, wasn’t the Democrats’ only flip of a red seat on Tuesday night.
According to unofficial results from Hillsborough County in central Florida, Democrat Brian Nathan narrowly edged Republican Josie Tomkow in a special election in the race to succeed the GOP’s Jay Collins, who resigned from the state Senate in August to become lieutenant governor. In a third special election, Republican Hilary Holley defeated Democrat Edwin Perez, in the race to replace Tomkow.
The Democrats’ Sunshine State victories are their latest wins or over performances in a slew of special elections from coast to coast since Trump returned to power in the White House 14 months ago.
The flipping of two GOP-controlled state Senate seats in Iowa last year denied Republicans their super majority in the chamber.
And plenty of Republicans were calling their party’s double-digit shellacking in a state Senate election in a ruby red district in Texas in an early February special election a “wake-up call” for the party.
Democrats also scored larger than expected victories in last November’s gubernatorial elections in blue-leaning Virginia and New Jersey.
Partially fueling the Democrats’ ballot box performances is their laser focus on affordability amid persistent inflation. And the victories are further energizing Democrats as they work to win back control of Congress in the midterms.
Meanwhile, Republicans are battling stiff political headwinds as the party in power in the nation’s capital traditionally loses seats in the midterms, and a rough political climate fueled by economic concerns, an unpopular war with Iran, and Trump’s underwater approval ratings.
And public opinion polling suggests that the economy and immigration, winning issues for Trump and Republicans in the 2024 elections, may be liabilities now.
The DNC, in their statement, called Gregory’s win “an earth-shattering victory for Florida Democrats and humiliating defeat for Donald Trump.”
“Donald Trump’s own neighbors just sent a crystal clear message: They are furious and ready for change,” Martin claimed.
But Republicans say that Democrats are overemphasizing their special election successes.
“Historically, special elections have been a poor barometer for what will occur during regularly scheduled midterm or presidential elections,” veteran Republican strategist and communicator Jesse Hunt told Fox News Digital. “Specials have unique dynamics that don’t play as much of a factor when the broader electorate feels the muscle memory of showing up to vote in November.”
Longtime Republican strategist Colin Reed pointed to the GOP’s sweeping One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the massive measure passed along party lines last summer by Republicans, which includes numerous tax cuts that many voters will feel this spring.
“If the economy starts booming on the backs of the One, Big Beautiful Bill’s provisions taking hold, the Republican Party need to remind America that this was a policy uniformly supported by one party and opposed by another. That’s the GOP’s big bet heading into the midterms, with the situation in Iran remaining the one unknowable wild car that has the potential to upend the entire political landscape,” Reed said.
