Democrat Emily Gregory, whose upset Special Election victory last month helped to invigorate talk of a November blue wave, will be sworn in to her House District 87 seat Tuesday afternoon.
Former Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Barbara Pariente will officiate the 4 p.m. swearing-in ceremony, held in the Council Chambers of Palm Beach Gardens City Hall.
Community members, elected leaders and supporters will be in attendance, according to a media advisory from Gregory’s Office.
Gregory won in HD 87, which represents a coastal portion of Palm Beach County, by 2.3 percentage points on March 24, becoming the first Democrat to flip the District this century.
She defeated Republican Jon Maples, a former Lake Clarke Shores Council member who enjoyed significantly more funding and institutional support, as well as an endorsement from the District’s most famous constituent, President Donald Trump.
That win, another flip by Brian Nathan in Senate District 14 and other historical victories in mayoral races in Boca Raton and Miami show Florida’s Midterm odds are increasingly in Democrats’ favor, she said.
“Florida Democrats are on the right side of the issues, and we have the momentum,” she told CNN News Central, adding that candidates should lean into affordability issues, though not in a one-size-fits-all fashion.
“Affordability is an issue nationally, but you can’t just plug and play what the affordability issues are here in coastal Palm Beach County,” she continued. “I don’t know what the affordability issues are in Wisconsin or South Carolina. You will only know that by going and talking to as many voters as you possibly can and helping them inform, you know, your message and your policy solutions.”
Maples, meanwhile, is already pursuing a rematch. He is one of two Republicans, along with Jonathan Rubin, now listed as candidates for the November General Election, when the HD 87 seat is again on the line.
He told Florida Politics last week that he’s retooling his campaign to improve his odds of winning this time around.
“We’re going to evaluate the situation line item by line item, tighten our belts, make it competitive and give the voters a reason why I’m a better fit to represent them in Tallahassee,” he said. “I’m not done.”
HD 87 — which runs up the coast through Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, Juno Beach and Hypoluxo — had trended reliably Republican in recent cycles.
Mike Caruso, Gregory’s Republican predecessor, won re-election by 19 percentage points in 2024, when Trump carried the District by roughly 9 points. He vacated the seat in August for an appointed job as Palm Beach County Clerk and Comptroller.
