‘This might kill me politically’: Dems’ support helps GOP candidate to verge of victory

When former socialite and Republican candidate for state representative Fabian Basabe touted support from Miami Beach Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez this past weekend, some local Democrats were confused.

Rosen Gonzalez is a Democrat in a non-partisan seat — one who infamously called herself “the most high-profile Hispanic Democrat in the city of Miami Beach” while running for office last year, though she is not Hispanic. Basabe’s opponent for House District 106 was Jordan Leonard, a Democrat from neighboring Bay Harbor Islands.

But quiet support from Democrats like Rosen Gonzalez — along with poor Democratic turnout and Republican gains across Miami-Dade County — may have helped lift Basabe to a stunning result on Tuesday in a redrawn district that stretches from Miami Beach to Aventura and was previously considered a Democratic stronghold.

Basabe led Leonard by 236 votes, or less than half a percentage point, with all votes counted, meaning the race will now go to a machine recount. About 35% of the district’s registered voters are Democrats, 24% are Republicans and 38% have no party affiliation, according to state records.

READ MORE: See how your Miami-Dade neighborhood voted in Tuesday’s midterm election

“My support came from people who are ready for change,” Basabe said in a statement. “This is no longer about partisan politics, but rather a common goal to unite for the improvement of our community and ultimately our quality of life.”

Basabe, the son of a wealthy Ecuadorian businessman, is a former New York socialite who appeared on multiple reality TV shows in the mid-2000s and was once called the “male version” of Paris Hilton.

Now, he’s a stay-at-home father making his break into politics. He loaned $250,000 to his own campaign and positioned himself as a moderate Republican, although his precise views on abortion and other social issues were at times difficult to discern.

At an October candidate forum in Miami Beach, Basabe said he is “pro-choice” but that “life must be respected.”

Regarding the Florida law derided by critics as “don’t say gay,” which bans teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools between kindergarten and third grade, Basabe said he would have voted against the bill but also defended the concept.

“As a parent, I would like to be a part of any conversation concerning my child,” he said at the October forum.

Basabe has been the subject of controversial headlines since his socialite days. In 2019, a publicist told Page Six that Basabe had called her the N-word after she didn’t let him into an Art Basel party. He denied using the racial slur.

Last year, he sought to run for Miami Beach City Commission but was disqualified for failing to meet the city’s residency requirements.

Asked about her apparent support for Basabe on Monday, Rosen Gonzalez told the Miami Herald she hadn’t formally endorsed either candidate. She said she told Basabe she couldn’t endorse him because of “certain Republican policies like a woman’s right to choose and ‘for profit’ prisons and child services.”

“Like I told Fabian several times, I am not taking a position in this race,” Rosen Gonzalez said in a text message. “Trust me, if I were taking a position, you, and everyone else, would know it.”

But text messages between Basabe and Rosen Gonzalez, provided to the Herald by Basabe, suggest Rosen Gonzalez knew about the social media post and its political implications.

The post quoted Rosen Gonzalez saying that Basabe would “vote to uphold a woman’s right to govern her body,” and urged voters to “Join Kristen & Punch #44,” Basabe’s ballot number.

“Any fallback? Proud of you!” Basabe wrote to Rosen Gonzalez around 10 p.m. Saturday, about six hours after the post had launched.

“This might kill me politically,” Rosen Gonzalez replied. “But you are working so hard! I hope it helps you.”

In another text message, Basabe wrote: “You do realize that we’re going to win this thing together, right?”

Rosen Gonzalez replied: “I hope you win Fabian. I [sic] would be a HUGE upset.”

Asked Wednesday about the text messages, Rosen Gonzalez said Basabe is a “family friend” and that “the picture he took with me did not influence this race.”

“I did not campaign for Fabian,” she said. “I took a picture with him, and he posted it. So what? All of this is too partisan.”

Rosen Gonzalez added that she believes Basabe won because he ran a strong campaign.

“He went out and won the heart of the people by standing in the street with a sign, being humble, and charming,” she said.

Other Dems cross party lines or stay mum

Rosen Gonzalez wasn’t the only Miami Beach Democrat to back Basabe. Matti Bower, the city’s mayor from 2007 to 2013, gave him an unexpected endorsement.

Other high-profile Democrats in the city, including Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber, chose not to endorse either candidate. Michael Gongora, a former city commissioner who is running for mayor next year, did the same, and asked Basabe to remove a social media post that claimed Gongora had voted for him.

In nearby North Bay Village, Mayor Brent Latham — a registered Democrat in a non-partisan seat — said he endorsed Leonard but praised Basabe for attending numerous community events.

“Fabian was extremely proactive and on the front foot in the community, certainly in my community,” Latham said. “The most important thing to us, well beyond party, is our belief that a candidate at the state level is going to work for us and advocate for what we need at the community level.”

Latham wouldn’t say which candidate he voted for.

Leonard was publicly endorsed by the city’s two Democratic state representatives who are now term-limited, Joe Geller and Michael Grieco, and by various elected officials in coastal cities north of Miami Beach.

He did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday’s results. In a statement to Florida Politics, Leonard said he “outperformed every other Democrat in the district” on a night that saw Republicans dominate across the county and state.

Amanda Knapp, vice president of the Miami Beach Democrats, said the group was “very upset” about the results but declined to talk specifically about Rosen Gonzalez’s actions, saying the commissioner is one of the club’s biggest supporters and that “what she does outside of the club is up to her.”

In general, she said, it’s frustrating to see fellow Democrats cross party lines.

“As a Democrat, I believe you always stick to your party,” she said.

Rosen Gonzalez, who is in her second stint on the Miami Beach City Commission, is an outspoken critic of Gelber and led a successful campaign against leases of city-owned land near Lincoln Road that voters rejected Tuesday.

In her exchange with Basabe, she said she had received backlash for appearing to support him, including from Grieco, the state representative.

Grieco shared screenshots with the Herald of a text conversation in which he sent Basabe’s social media post to Rosen Gonzalez and asked her if it was “real.” Rosen Gonzalez responded that she “just took a picture with him.”

Grieco then pointed out to Rosen Gonzalez that it appeared Basabe was claiming an endorsement from her.

“I will speak to him today,” she replied.

Miami Herald data reporter Ana Claudia Chacin contributed to this report.