Gov. Ron DeSantis has set a special election to fill a vacant state representative seat in Palm Beach County — but he delayed acting for so long that 114,281 registered voters who live in the district won’t be represented in Tallahassee during the 2026 legislative session.
The special general election is set for March 24 — 11 days after the Legislature’s scheduled March 13 adjournment.
In an executive order he filed Friday afternoon with the Secretary of State’s Office, DeSantis also set the special primary for the District 87 seat for Jan. 13. The district is in the central part of the county along the Atlantic coast.
DeSantis set the special primary and general election dates 17 days after a lawsuit was filed seeking a court order compelling him to act.
DeSantis sometimes acts quickly to set dates for special elections and sometimes waits weeks to set the dates. The governor’s office doesn’t respond to questions about his rationale for timing of those elections, and his representatives haven’t responded to inquiries about the District 87 vacancy.
He’s been sued in the past, and has responded by moving quickly to set election dates — avoiding the prospect of a court ordering him to act. That’s what happened with the Palm Beach County special election he set on Friday.
The lawsuit was announced by Democrat Emily Gregory’s campaign, although the candidate didn’t file it herself. The petitioner, similar to a plaintiff, is a supporter and resident of the district, Paula Mcclease. The attorney who signed it, Matthew A. Goldberger, is Gregory’s campaign treasurer.
“We were hopeful the election would be before the next legislative session. We’re disappointed that there won’t be representation for our district,” Gregory said Saturday. “I would like a voice in Tallahassee in the next session but that’s out of our control.”
Republicans have a commanding majority over Democrats in the Florida House of Representatives, so the vacancy is unlikely to affect the outcome on major issues. Not having a representative means there won’t be someone in the House advocating for funding projects in the district.
DeSantis is responsible for the vacancy in the 87th state House district. He appointed then-state Rep. Mike Caruso, a Republican, to fill the vacant job of Palm Beach County circuit court clerk and comptroller. Caruso resigned from the District 87 seat when DeSantis appointed him to the new job on Aug. 18.
DeSantis can fill many vacancies on his own, but he doesn’t have the authority to pick replacements for members of Congress or state Legislature. But he is responsible for setting the dates of the special primaries and special general elections.
On July 21, Blaise Ingoglia resigned from the Florida Senate because DeSantis named him as the state’s new chief financial officer. On July 22, DeSantis set the dates for special primary and general elections to fill the resulting vacancy.
Gregory called the quick action for one vacancy and the delay in another “peculiar.” But, she said, “We’re happy that there was an election called, and we are going to do everything we can to get in front of the voters and share our vision for Florida.”
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Another Democrat, Laura Ann Levites, has filed paperwork with the Division of Elections to run in the regular 2026 primary in District 87. Republicans Jon Maples and Gretchen L. Miller Feng have also filed to run in their party’s primary.
Typically what happens in such situations is the candidates who’d planned to run in the normal election cycle move up their timetables and run in the special election.
Republican Tracy Caruso, wife of Mike Caruso, is still listed as an active candidate by the Division of Elections, but in September she said she would not run to succeed her husband.
Also on Friday, DeSantis set the special primary and general election dates for a Hillsborough County vacancy created when the governor appointed then-state Sen. Jay Collins to fill the empty post of lieutenant governor.
Palm Beach County will see a flurry of election activity from now through March.
A special general election is Dec. 9 to fill the vacancy left by the death of state Rep. Joe Casello. And most cities, towns and villages in Palm Beach County have their local elections on March 10.
Key dates
The state Division of Elections posted a calendar of election activities that stem from the governor’s actions.
Primary: Deadline to register to vote, Dec. 15; Deadline to request vote-by-mail ballot, Jan. 1; early voting, Jan. 3-10; primary day, Jan. 13.
General election: Deadline to register to vote, Feb. 23; Deadline to request vote-by-mail ballot, March 12; early voting, March 14-21, Election Day, March 24.
Political writer Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook and Mastodon.
