Jesse Scheckner
Five days after he got a Miami-Dade School Board member fired from his Town Attorney job, Miami Beach Rep. Fabián Basabe is adding an endorsement from another elected county official.
Dariel Fernandez, who made history in November as Miami-Dade’s first elected Tax Collector, is backing Basabe, a fellow Republican, to win a third term in House District 106 next year.
He said Basabe has “worked tirelessly” to tackle the challenges of coastal HD 106, “including the heavy tax burdens in Miami Beach, North Bay Village, Surfside, and Aventura.”
“He has also championed the need to bring long overdue state services closer to residents and has advocated for a Tax Collector’s Office in Miami Beach. These efforts reflect his ability to solve problems and build consensus,” Fernandez wrote in a Monday letter.
“In my work with state leaders, Fabián has been a reliable partner who makes sure local concerns are heard in Tallahassee and addressed with real solutions.”
The nod from Fernandez, who has been expanding his Office’s hours and locations to improve services and the administration of the county’s DMV, which recently fell under his authority, adds to another from freshman Rep. Jose Alvarez, a Kissimmee Democrat.
Basabe said in a statement that he is “very proud” to have Fernandez’s support and stressed his eagerness to collaborate with him.
“This partnership is about building trust, delivering results, and ensuring that Miami-Dade residents finally have the access, respect, and savings they deserve,” he said.
“It is also important to educate people about what the Tax Collector does. While the title may sound like it’s just about collecting taxes, the reality is that the Office helps put money back in your pocket through accurate assessments, correcting errors, helping you avoid penalties and making sure services are accessible and fair.”
Elected by a razor-thin margin in 2022 to represent House District 106, a coastal district in northeast Miami-Dade County, Basabe won re-election in November with 51% of the vote in one of the cycle’s most-watched state races.
After a lackluster 2024 Session in which he passed no legislation amid ample personal controversy, he had a much more successful round of lawmaking this year, passing five bills, including measures to safeguard historic structures and crack down on irresponsible owners of derelict vessels, while securing millions of dollars in state funding for projects in and outside of his district.
In the past month, he called out Miami Beach officials for local homelessness ordinances he believes fall short of state mandates and successfully pushed for the removal of Bay Harbor Islands Town Attorney Joe Geller, who serves on the county School Board, citing absences and unfinished work.
Basabe faces a challenge this cycle from former Miami-Dade School Board member Lucia Báez-Geller, a Democrat who last year unsuccessfully ran against Republican U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar.
HD 106 covers a coastal strip of Miami-Dade between Miami Beach and Aventura.
