Miami Beach, Florida: Lucia Baez-Geller Ousts Fabian Basabe in House District 106

Voters in Florida House District 106 removed two-term Republican Rep. Fabian Basabe on Tuesday, November 3, and sent Democrat Lucia Baez-Geller to Tallahassee instead. Unofficial election night results from the Florida Division of Elections, with all 47 precincts reporting, gave Baez-Geller 30,912 votes, or 53.96 percent, to 26,376 votes, or 46.04 percent, for Basabe. The margin was 4,536 votes, nearly eight points. The results are unofficial until they are certified. District 106 covers coastal Miami-Dade communities including Miami Beach.

Baez-Geller is a former teacher and a former Miami-Dade School Board member. She raised about $403,000 through October 29, according to campaign finance reports, and about $270,000 of that came from loans she made to her own campaign. She spent an estimated $389,000. Basabe raised about $173,000 and spent about $155,000, and Republican Party organizations gave him nearly $140,000 in added in-kind help, even though the party left him off its voter guides.

A verdict that followed him into the race

In July, a Leon County jury found Basabe liable for sexual harassment, battery and defamation in a civil lawsuit brought by two former legislative staffers, and awarded them $450,000 in damages. The former staffers alleged unwanted touching, sexual advances and inappropriate comments. Basabe denied wrongdoing. He represented himself at trial and later tried, without success, to overturn the verdict. After the verdict, five of the seven Miami Beach commissioners called for his resignation, and several political supporters withdrew their endorsements.

The final days at the polling place

The closing stretch of the campaign added fresh disputes. Miami Beach police documented five disturbances involving Basabe near the City Hall early voting site, including arguments with campaign volunteers and voters, Political Cortadito reported. He was filmed arguing with people, recording them with his cellphone and using a loudspeaker that drew complaints. He also confronted Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava while she ate at a cafe nearby, followed her toward her car and shouted accusations at her as she tried to leave, because she backed Baez-Geller. Basabe defended his conduct as free speech and political accountability.

By Election Day, the story in the district was less about insurance rates, condominium costs and Tallahassee votes than about the incumbent's conduct: a civil jury verdict, calls for his resignation from his own city's commissioners, and a party that funded him quietly while keeping him off its guides. Voters gave their answer on Tuesday. Baez-Geller flips a seat that Republicans held through two terms, in a district where daily costs, not party labels alone, drove much of the campaign talk.