Democrat Lucia Báez-Geller unseated Republican incumbent Fabián Basabe in Florida House District 106 Tuesday, reclaiming a coastal Miami-Dade seat that stretches from Miami Beach to Aventura for her party. The former Miami-Dade County School Board member took 54% of the vote to Basabe's 46%, flipping a district that had leaned Republican just two years earlier.
According to Florida Politics, Báez-Geller's win returned House District 106 to Democratic control after Basabe had held it since a razor-thin 2022 victory. The district covers coastal communities across northeastern Miami-Dade County, including Miami Beach, Surfside, Sunny Isles Beach and Aventura, as reported by the Miami Herald.
Báez-Geller brings 15 years of classroom experience to her new role, having taught at Miami Beach Senior High before serving on the Miami-Dade County School Board from 2020 to 2024. The Herald reports that her return to elected office follows directly from that school board tenure, and she said her community had trusted her to serve again and that she was grateful to her supporters.
A District That Was Supposed to Stay Red
The numbers made Báez-Geller's win notable beyond the district's borders. Donald Trump carried District 106 by about nine points in 2024, and as of early October, Republicans still outnumbered Democrats among the district's 96,515 registered voters, 32% to 30%, with third-party and no-party voters making up the remaining 38%, per the same Florida Politics report. Basabe himself had only narrowly flipped the seat in 2022, winning by less than half a percentage point, according to Florida Trib.
Báez-Geller's victory was not an isolated result. The station's report from the Miami Herald notes that Democratic candidates flipped several South Florida state House seats in Tuesday's election, suggesting a broader shift in a region often associated with Republican gains in recent cycles.
Scandals Shadowed Basabe's Final Months
Basabe's tenure had grown increasingly turbulent heading into Election Day. The Herald reports that records and videos show he had confrontations outside a Miami Beach polling location during early voting, clashing with campaign volunteers, a police officer and the Miami-Dade mayor. Separately, Florida Politics reported that a jury found Basabe liable in a civil lawsuit brought by former staffers; he has denied wrongdoing and is appealing.
Báez-Geller, for her part, said families were counting on public servants and that she was proud to return to public service. Florida Trib reports she has promised to introduce legislation requiring property insurers seeking rate increases to publicly disclose how they spend the money they collect from premiums, a pledge likely to resonate in a coastal district where insurance costs remain a persistent concern.
A state election tracking page, Florida Election Watch, listed its Tuesday results for Miami-Dade County as unofficial election-night results, though the vote totals reported by Florida Politics and Florida Trib align in describing Báez-Geller's win as a decisive 54% to 46% margin.
