Mary Trump lauds Democrat win in Florida seat where 'Donald committed voter fraud'

In a massive setback for the Republicans, a first-time Democratic candidate flipped the Florida State House District 87, home to President Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, on Tuesday. The President's niece, Mary Trump, who has been a vocal critic of her uncle, celebrated the win and claimed that it comes despite President Trump "casting his ballot illegally." Emily Gregory won the Florida State House District 87 special election, becoming the first Democrat to represent the Palm Beach County district this century. "The Democrats just flipped a state house seat in the district where Donald committed voter fraud by casting his ballot illegally by mail," Mary wrote in a post on X. 

"When we started this, nobody thought it was possible. They thought we were crazy," Gregory told her supporters at her election night party, as per a CNN report. "I knew my community. I knew we deserved better. We deserve a leader who will fight for us.” She also said that she would be open to having conversations with the President, as he was a resident of the district. "I would be happy to have a conversation. And you know, all 180,000 residents of District 87 are my priority if I'm so lucky to serve. I will put them all with equal weight," Gregory said. Republicans have a lot on their hands if they want to compete in the Midterms, and the first thing to do would be to unify the party members. That might not be the case at the moment.

Democrats have hailed Gregory's victory as a sign of shifting momentum ahead of this year's midterm elections. "Floridians have made it clear they want real action on the affordability crisis and while Republicans have ignored them," Florida House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell said, pointing our that Gregory ran a campaign "focused on pragmatic solutions to lower costs, raise wages, and build a more affordable state for all working families and seniors that resonated with the people of Palm Beach County." U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries announced on X that Democrats will "crush House Republicans in November if DeSantis tries to gerrymander the Florida congressional map." "Democrats FLIPPED a state House seat in Palm Beach that Trump won by 11 points in 2024. Mar-a-Lago will now be represented by Emily Gregory, a strong Democratic voice," he said.

For Republicans, the election setback comes at a time when President Trump's approval ratings are dropping sharply, and his administration is in the middle of several contentious developments, including a partial government shutdown, an escalating conflict in the Middle East, and a major court setback on his tariff policies. A Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Monday showed that 36% of Americans approve of Trump’s ‌job performance, down from 40% in a similar poll conducted last week.