Trump’s pick to represent him in the Florida state legislature doesn’t even live in the district

President Donald Trump, hoping to prevent a Democrat from representing him in the Florida House, endorsed the Republican running for the seat in a special election this month, even though the candidate’s home is not in the district and he recently moved his voter registration to a cheap beach motel to comply with state law.

Trump won House District 87 by 11 points in 2024, but Democrats, fueled by antipathy toward Trump, have shown up in droves in otherwise low-turnout races.

The result has been a run of successes across the country in special elections, with victories in seats even redder than the one at 1100 S. Ocean Boulevard in Palm Beach, Trump’s official residence at his Mar-a-Lago country club.

“I’m very encouraged,” said Democratic candidate and political newcomer Emily Gregory, rattling off figures showing that Democrats, who are vastly outnumbered in the district by registration, have so far returned more mail-in ballots than Republicans.

State Democrats suspect that even Gov. Ron DeSantis knows his party could lose that seat, which is why he postponed calling a special election for two months after the vacancy occurred. A lawsuit filed by Gregory and the ACLU forced his hand.

DeSantis’ office did not respond to a News themezone inquiry about the delay.

via News

State legislative elections often deal with local issues, which in Florida right now include a property insurance crisis caused by storms and increasingly unaffordable housing. However, Trump may have helped make this election so special by endorsing Republican Jon Maples even before the January primary.

“Jon is a very successful businessman and civic leader, well-known and loved, and also supported by many of my friends in Palm Beach County,” Trump wrote.

However, Maples was not even registered to vote in the district at the time of Trump’s endorsement on January 6.

The 43-year-old former Lake Clarke Shores City Council member did not respond to questions from News themezone.

Lake Clarke Shores, south of West Palm Beach, is where the 2,500-square-foot home he and his wife bought nine years ago and which receives a property tax exemption is located. That, however, is a mile and a quarter west of the House District 87 boundary. His voter registration now shows he lives in a motel in Palm Beach Shores, 15 miles north. Records obtained by News themezone under the state’s public records law show he registered to vote at the motel address on Jan. 12, too late to vote for himself in the Jan. 13 primary in which Trump offered his endorsement and won handily.

The motel does not No published its rates on the Internet and calls to the indicated telephone number went unanswered. Its sole reviewer on Yelp gave it just one star, citing previous “infestations” of termites and flies, although noting that “the maintenance guy uses substances all day, starting in the morning with a neighbor.”

News themezone could not independently verify the complaints cited by the reviewer.

In any case, it is unclear whether Maples actually lives there. Florida requires you to live in the district on Election Day, which in this case is March 24.

A prominent Florida Republican, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Maples is in the process of purchasing a home within the district, but acknowledged that public records would not yet reflect this. He added that Trump endorsed him because Maples had been a delegate to the 2024 RNC convention.

Gregory, who is 40 and runs a fitness business that serves new mothers, said she has focused on the cost-of-living concerns she hears on the campaign trail and has knocked on 1,000 doors so far to recruit Democratic supporters. You haven’t tried to visit Mar-a-Lago. “That’s not a friendly door,” he said.

The district favors Republicans by registration by about 10 percentage points, but nearly a third of voters are registered as unaffiliated with either party. “I think the independent is a left-wing independent in this district,” he said.

Trump, a native of New York City, is no stranger to Democratic lawmakers, who dominate state legislative and congressional seats in that city. Trump himself donated freely to Democrats before running for president in 2016, although he has said he did so to get them to do what he wanted.

With an expected turnout of perhaps 20%, it is unclear who will win in two weeks, although state vote-tracking figures show that Democratic voters have returned just under 1,000 more mail-in ballots than Republicans as of Friday.

It’s also unclear whether Trump’s endorsement, which Maples doesn’t even mention on his website, will help or hurt Maples, given Trump’s growing unpopularity.

“I think Trump’s support right now is kryptonite,” said Nikki Fried, chairwoman of the Democratic state party.

As for Maples living outside the district, it doesn’t appear to have emerged as a campaign issue so far. Gregory joked that after the March 24 election, it won’t be a problem at all, because she intends to win. “Like I told Jon, he doesn’t need to worry about that,” he said.