Democrat Rob Long is the newest member of the Florida House of Representatives, after winning an overwhelming victory Tuesday in a Palm Beach County special election.
Unofficial results Wednesday showed Long with 9,553 votes, or 63.2%.
Republican Maria Zack finished far behind with 5,424 votes, or 35.9%.
Long fills the vacancy created by the July death of state Rep. Joe Casello. Long will serve during the 2026 legislative session, and then face the voters again.
“We did it! I’m incredibly grateful for the trust the people of HD-90 put in me,” Long wrote in a social media post. “Joe Casello always put this community first, and I’m honored to continue his legacy.
“I’m ready to get to work — fighting every day to make life more affordable, support our first responders, strengthen our public schools, keep our neighborhoods safe, and protect our environment,” Long said.
Long was elected to the Delray Beach City Commission in 2023, defeating an incumbent. He had to resign from the commission to run for the state House.
As a commissioner, he was in the spotlight over the summer as the leader of the ultimately unsuccessful effort in Delray Beach to preserve the LGBTQ+ rainbow pride crosswalk when DeSantis’ state Department of Transportation ordered it removed, along with others throughout the state.
Long is a loss control engineer, runs a political organizing firm, is a former member of the Palm Beach Soil and Water Conservation District board, and a former president of the Palm Beach County Young Democrats.
Long, 40, is also co-author of a children’s book, “The Great Weather Diviner,” a re-imagining of the legend of Groundhog Day made famous by his hometown of Punxsutawney, Pa.
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Florida House District 90, which Long now represents, is bordered by Hypoluxo Road in the north, Military Trail on the west (with a couple of pockets west of Military), the Delray Beach-Boca Raton border on the South and the Atlantic Ocean on the east.
It includes all or parts of Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Briny Breezes, Golf, Gulf Stream and Ocean Ridge.
The district leans Democratic, and Casello was a Democrat. But Palm Beach County Republicans pushed hard for their nominee, Zack. Palm Beach County Republican Chair Carl Cascio said before the election that Long was “unfit for higher office.”
And even though Zack received campaign money from the Florida House Republican Campaign Committee, the party organization that works to keep Republican control of the state House of Representatives, others normally aligned with Republicans supported Long instead.
Long’s endorsements included Associated Industries of Florida and the Florida Chamber of Commerce.
He was also endorsed by all the Democratic senators and representatives from Palm Beach County and a range of political organizations including the Service Employees International Union; the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, an LGBTQ+ rights organization; and the Palm Beach County Fraternal Order of Police, a law enforcement union.
Zack offered some unconventional views as she ran for the Legislature. She said that eliminating property taxes would reduce teenage pregnancies — which have already declined precipitously — because family finances would be so improved that one parent could stop working and stay home with the kids.
And Zack said five years after Joe Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 presidential election, she remained unsure who won. “I can’t tell you. I assume it was President Trump, but I can’t tell you until there’s a full investigation with all its affidavits and transparency.” Zack has repeatedly touted a theory that Italy helped steal the 2020 election from Trump.
In a statement congratulating Long on his victory, House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell of Tampa said the result “shows that the people of Palm Beach County want serious leaders with proven track records, not Culture War extremists.”
State Rep. Christine Hunschofsky of Parkland, who becomes Democratic leader after the 2026 elections, said Long “focused on issues that actually matter to families. …. Floridians are overwhelmed by the affordability crisis that is making everything more expensive. The people want solutions and they want them now.”
Karen Yeh, who was on the ballot as a no party affiliation candidate, had 146 votes, or 1%, in unofficial results.
Political writer Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook and Mastodon.
