Florida Democrats point to Tuesday’s special elections as a sign of momentum.
Democrat Brian Nathan likely won a Tampa Senate seat previously held by Republican Jay Collins, who DeSantis appointed as his lieutenant governor. The vote was close enough to possibly set off an automatic recount on Friday. And Democrat Emily Gregory even won a Palm Beach County state House district that includes President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago.
They have to run again in November. But Florida Democrats say they’ve got a strong ground game and anti-Trump momentum.
The Republican Party of Florida has a lot more money than the Democrats. It says special elections don't predict the general election and pointed to recent GOP wins in the state.
WUSF's Douglas Soule talked with Gregory, who has attracted nationwide attention with her win in the Palm Beach County district.
The interview has been edited for length:
Emily, a lot of people are hearing about you for the first time. What do you want them to know?
I am a mom of three. I'm a proud military spouse. I'm a small business owner. My background is in public health and mental health, and I'm just a very proud resident of District 87. I love my community, and that's what inspired me to run.
Your business does fitness classes, right?
Yes, I own FIT4MOM Palm Beach, which delivers high quality postpartum fitness to new moms across Palm Beach County.
And you just flipped a district Republicans won by nearly 20 points just two years ago. How?
Well, Douglas, isn't that a bonkers way to describe it? Yes, I saw an opportunity. I don't think a lot of other people saw it for a long time, but we sort of just willed it into existence. I feel very rooted in my community, and I think, like many of my neighbors, we want the same things. We want safety and prosperity and to be able to afford our lives, and I was not seeing that from the leadership and the legislation that was coming out of the statehouse. So I decided to take a gamble on myself and on my community, and I think the voters in District 87 confirmed my hypothesis that we want a fairer, kinder Florida that truly works for all of us.
Do you see this as a local win or also as a sign of something bigger happening in Florida and the nation?
I'll leave it to the political class to opine on any bigger implications. But I think that my community — I mean, clearly — they made a choice. They want a different voice, and they want someone that's going to go up to the Capitol and fight for them and fight to lower costs and fight to lower their property insurance and fight to expand affordable health care and to fight to strengthen our public schools, and that's my priority — serving the people of District 87.
What messages do you think resonated most with voters in your district?
The No. 1 thing I heard every single day at the doors and talking to voters was affordability. We just feel like we're getting crushed. And people know when they're being taken advantage of. The property insurance — it's skyrocketed here. Ours is up, personally, over 300%. It's outrageous, and it's hard, nearly impossible, for a household to absorb that. And it's not like you're getting greater coverage for it, right? It's the same coverage. So that's a grift on the policy holder, and you need leaders that are willing to stand up to special interests and take that on. Similarly, health care, groceries, cost of living overall — people are having trouble affording to stay here and affording to stay in their homes, and that's not right. And we need leaders up in Tallahassee fighting for all of us, fighting for all Floridians.
Your district also happens to include Mar-a-Largo. How much did Donald Trump actually come up in these conversations with voters, and how much did Trump play a role in the results of this election?
I like that you asked the first question. I haven't been asked that yet, and the answer is zero. I don't think Donald Trump came up a single time with the voters in terms of implications for the race and how it affected the race. My opponent put President Trump at the forefront of his messaging. The endorsement was on most of his literature. For me, it was about talking about the issues that affect all of us, and not one single most famous constituent.
The Legislature is dominated by Republicans. What do you think success for you looks like there?
I have one agenda going up to Tallahassee. It's not to enrich myself. It’s not to gain any kind of celebrity. It is just to bring down costs for our Florida families. They deserve it, and they deserve representation that's going to fight for them.
Thank you so much for your time. And I'll see you in Tallahassee, very, very soon.
Thank you. Thank you so much. It's great to chat.
If you have any questions about state government or the legislative process, you can ask the Your Florida team by clicking here.
This story was produced by WUSF as part of a statewide journalism initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
