Jesse Scheckner
Former Rep. Joe Saunders’ campaign to unseat Republican Rep. Fabián Basabe in House District 106 brought in more than $44,000 between Aug. 16 and Sept. 20, much of it from unions and advocacy organizations.
Saunders, a Democrat, collected close to $20,000 through his campaign account and another $24,500 through his political committee, Friends of Joe Saunders. The Florida Democratic Party chipped in another $6,400 worth of in-kind aid for staff expenses.
He also spent nearly $66,000. Most of it — $55,000 — went to the Florida House Democratic Campaign Committee. The rest covered consulting from MDW Communications and EDGE Communications; transportation, advertising and fundraising expenses; and a $100 ticket to a Miami-Dade County Chamber of Commerce event.
Saunders received roughly 75 personal checks from donors in and outside of Miami-Dade and Florida. His biggest gain was a $10,000 contribution from Equality Florida Action PAC, a political arm of the organization for which he has served as Senior Political Director for more than a decade.
Ban Assault Weapons Now, a political action committee founded in 2018 by the aunt of one of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting victims, gave Saunders $2,500. The Florida Dental Association PAC chipped in $1,000.
Saunders also received $5,000 apiece from unions 32BJ United ADF and the Florida Education Association, and $1,000 from Teamsters Local 769.
Another $1,000 came through Strong Leadership for South Florida, the political committee of former Democratic Rep. Mike Grieco, who ran unsuccessfully for Miami Beach Mayor last year and is now under a one-year Florida Bar suspension for campaign finance violations.
Since filing to run for HD 106 in May 2023, Saunders has raised almost $366,000. As of Sept. 20, he had about $187,000 remaining.
Basabe, who last month soundly defeated a lone Primary challenger for the seat he won in a 2022 upset, has raised $361,000 to defend his seat this cycle, including a $250,000 self-loan into which he has begun to cut.
Between Aug. 16 and Sept. 20, Basabe raised $10,300 through his campaign account and political committee, Common Sense for Florida. He also got more than $30,000 worth of in-kind aid from the Florida House Republican Campaign Committee for research and polling.
Seven people donated to Basabe in the period, including Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett, who donated $1,000.
Miami-Dade Victory Coalition, a conservative political committee that recently hosted a Donald Trump campaign event featuring Rudy Giuliani and hosted prior events with Roger Stone and Jeanine Pirro, gave Basabe $5,000.
Basabe spent just over $2,100 on advertising, signage, financial consulting and banking fees.
By Sept. 21, he had $240,000 left.
A third candidate, independent Maureen “Mo” Saunders Scott, claims to still be in the race. But she hasn’t filed a campaign finance report for months and has received numerous messages from the Division of Elections warning of steep fines for noncompliance.
Scott is Saunders’ aunt and in mid-June changed her name on the ballot to “Moe Saunders,” one letter different from her nephew’s, in what his campaign decried as an attempt to confuse voters. On Aug. 1, Scott agreed in court to instead run as “Mo Saunders Scott” after Saunders unsuccessfully sued to remove her from the ballot.
Florida Politics this week contacted Scott, a St. Johns County resident, to determine whether she is still actively running for HD 106. She did not respond directly to multiple communications; but on Friday, she posted a three-paragraph message on Facebook suggesting that she is still pursuing the HD 106 seat.
HD 106 covers several coastal northeast Miami-Dade municipalities, including Aventura, Bal Harbour Village, Bay Harbor Islands, Golden Beach, Indian Creek, Miami Beach, North Bay Village, Sunny Isles Beach and Surfside.
Until 2022, when Basabe won by a 0.46-percentage-point margin, the district had long been a Democratic stronghold. It’s one of roughly a handful of state legislative districts Florida Democrats hope to flip.
The General Election is on Nov. 5.
