Emily Gregory’s 2 percentage-point win over Jon Maples for the District 87 state House seat that includes Mar-a-Lago drew national attention starting just hours after polls closed with Gregory’s appearance on MS NOW’s “The Briefing with Jen Psaki.”
Gregory, speaking from her victory party in North Palm Beach, didn’t hesitate when asked what to say to Democrats thinking about flipping a Republican district.
What they’re saying: “I say, ‘Go for it.’ I say, ‘Back yourself.’ It only takes you getting off the sidelines to make a difference,” Gregory answered. “And if you want the world to look different than you have to go out and make it different. I think we’ve learned over the last several years that no one is coming to save us. We have to save ourselves.”
READ MORE: Democrat Emily Gregory on her win in a district that includes Mar-a-Lago
Gregory, a mother of three who lives in Jupiter’s Abacoa and owns FIT4MOM Palm Beach, told Stet News she got about 1,000 texts and phone calls after the polls closed.
Zoom in: Gregory carried the vote-by-mail ballots by 3,201 votes. Maples carried the election day vote by 2,257 and early voting by 144, not enough to overcome Gregory’s 800-vote margin.
- While Trump, who voted by mail, endorsed Maples, the former Lake Clarke Shores resident did not live in the district and said he was moving to an apartment in Palm Beach Shores.
Of note: Since it was a special election to fill the remaining time on Mike Caruso’s term, Gregory will have to run again in November to hold the seat. Caruso left to become Palm Beach County clerk and comptroller. Caruso, a Republican, had won the seat by 19 points.
More election news: The special election in North Palm Beach to fill the seat vacated by the death of Kristin Garrison is going to a runoff.
Catch up quick: Kendra Zellner took the most votes on March 24, with 1,195. The race for second place between Ron Okolichany and David Norris was so close it went to a machine recount. Okolichany took second with 1,138 votes, eliminating Norris, the former longtime council member, who finished with 1,127 votes.
- Zellner and Okolichany meet April 7 in the runoff.
See the results of both races here.
This story was originally published by Stet News Palm Beach, a WLRN News partner.
