Florida state Rep. Basabe has repeated clashes at Miami Beach polling site, records show
Published in News & Features
MIAMI — State Rep. Fabián Basabe had confrontation after confrontation outside a Miami Beach polling location during early voting, squaring off with campaign volunteers, a police officer and even the Miami-Dade mayor, records and videos show.
The Miami Herald obtained records from the Miami Beach Police Department showing there were five documented disturbances between Basabe and others while he was stationed at or near the Miami Beach City Hall early-voting location in recent days. Miami Beach code compliance officers also checked on the polling station at least six times for possible loud music and signage code adherence pertaining to Basabe, although no violations were issued, records show.
Two of the disturbance reports were initiated by Basabe himself, while the other three complaints were initiated by others making reports to the police.
Basabe, a Republican incumbent, is running against Lucia Báez-Geller, the Democratic candidate for Florida House District 106, in Tuesday’s election.
In a short statement to the Herald on Monday, Basabe tried to make issue of his opponent’s “connections to problematic groups,” including the Democratic Socialists of America and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and said that a lack of media attention meant that “of course I require a PA system to get [voters] the info they need.”
Last week, Basabe sent a letter to the city of Miami Beach asking that “any nonemergency compliance concerns” be sent directly to him. The “repeated opposition activist complaints followed by officers approaching me in front of voters create the appearance that I am constantly being reprimanded or violating the law,” the email said.
Steve Atlas, a Miami Beach Democratic Party volunteer, told the Herald that Basabe and his team were “pretty aggressive” and “intimidating” near the polls. Atlas was at the site over several days, including as a poll watcher, but he wasn’t one of the three people to make a report to the police regarding Basabe. Atlas said “he found himself arguing” with Basabe and his team because they were so confrontational.
In a series of videos posted across social media, Basabe can be seen raising his voice, holding his cellphone in people’s faces and engaging in tense conversations while campaigning.
In one video, Basabe appears to raise his voice at a man before turning around and shouting at a woman. “You’re intimidating voters. You’re intimidating voters,” she says in the video. He answers, “No, I’m not, ma’am. I’m answering your vulgarity. Your activists.”
Another clip appears to show a Miami Beach police officer telling Basabe to turn down the volume on his microphone while people are voting. The officer tells Basabe he is being “extremely loud, unreasonably loud.”
“This is free speech in Miami Beach, everybody,” Basabe says, while pointing at the person recording. “Welcome to the show.”
One woman told officers she had been involved in a verbal dispute on Oct. 27 with Basabe, who she said was recording some voters who weren’t voting for him.
In a separate incident Sunday, Basabe flagged down police to report that a parking garage employee grabbed and threw his phone to the ground, the report shows. But the parking garage employee told police that he only placed his finger over Basabe’s phone to prevent him from recording, which caused it to fall.
Basabe reported a similar incident Oct. 25 that happened as he was following a man walking toward the polling place inside City Hall. A police report says Basabe was recording the man with his phone and that the man nudged the phone away.
The Miami Beach Democratic Club said in a Monday statement to the Herald that Basabe has been repeatedly directing a loudspeaker and playing an inflammatory recording attributed to “Wake Up With Linda,” a conservative political commentator. Volunteers also reported that Basabe continually directed the speaker toward them even after Miami Beach code compliance officers told him that its volume exceeded the city’s noise limit. And he is accused of repeatedly threatening to sue campaign volunteers for his opponent.
“Voting locations must be safe and welcoming for voters, election workers, and volunteers of every political affiliation,” the Miami Beach Democratic Club said. “No elected official should use their position to intimidate residents participating peacefully in an election.”
Miami Beach Commissioner Alex Fernandez called Basabe’s conduct toward voters and volunteers “disgraceful,” which is “exactly why he is unfit to hold public office.” Voters should “ask themselves whether his conduct reflects the decency of the people of this district,” he said.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s political consultant recently shared similar sentiments about Basabe’s behavior outside City Hall. On Saturday, Basabe confronted Levine Cava at a cafe next door and trailed her to her car while demanding answers to his questions and criticizing her.
Báez-Geller’s political consultant, Jeffrey Garcia, called “this nonsense” a political distraction from the fact that a jury this summer found Basabe, a former reality TV star, civilly liable for sexually harassing two male staffers.
_______
(Miami Herald staff writer Douglas Hanks contributed reporting.)
©2026 Miami Herald. Visit at miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.







Comments