A political adviser to Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava says state Rep. Fabián Basabe harassed her at a diner outside Miami Beach City Hall and kept it up until she reached her car. A video released by the mayor’s camp shows Basabe following her and pressing her with questions and accusations.
According to the video, Basabe tried to get Levine Cava to denounce the Muslim Brotherhood and the Committee on American Islamic Relations. He also accused her of taking “blood money” and getting rich in public office.
Christian Ulvert, the adviser, said the confrontation came while the mayor and he were eating during a break from the campaign trail on the final weekend of get-out-the-vote efforts before the Nov. 3 election. He called the encounter a stunt staged for a camera and said it was especially dangerous given threats public officials face.
Ulvert pointed to a unanimous censure by the Miami Beach City Commission and a civil finding of liability against Basabe for harassing former House employees. He said the incident was not an isolated lapse.
Basabe, a Republican in his second term, represents House District 106, which covers Miami Beach and Aventura. He faces former Miami-Dade School Board member Lucia Báez-Geller in the general election. The source material did not include a response from Basabe.
The district is a swing seat. Trump carried it by 9 points in 2024, after Joe Biden won it by 10 points in 2020. Basabe won it by 240 votes in 2022 and by about 4 points in 2024.
