Trump-backed Republican battles to hold key Florida seat in president's stomping ground

Republican Jon Maples is facing off in a special election in Florida's House District 87 against Democrat Emily Gregory 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.

Maples is 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. He is also backed by a number of top Sunshine State Republicans.

"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.

The 43-year-old Maples, a financial planner and former Lake Clarke Shores Council member who during his years at Palm Beach Atlantic University was an all-American athlete, has made cutting taxes and government spending, reducing regulations, promoting private sector job creation and advancing school choice.

Gregory, a 40-year-old Army spouse, owns and runs a Jupiter-based fitness center for pregnant and postpartum women. The first-time candidate has made affordability, increasing public education, tackling rising property insurance and housing costs, and access to healthcare key parts of her campaign.

Maples was the favorite heading into the special election, thanks to his fundraising advantage in a district that leads to the right. Trump carried the district by roughly 10 points in his 2024 re-election victory.

A victory by Maples would be further evidence of the GOP surge in Palm Beach County, which was once firmly blue.

The district includes much of Democrat-leaning Tampa as well as the more GOP-leaning Northwest Hillsborough suburbs.

And Republican Hilary Holley and Democrat Edwin Perez are on the ballot in the special election in House District 51, in the race to replace Tomkow. The district covers parts of Polk County, in the central part of the state.