Miami Beach Republican state Rep. Fabián Basabe’s cross-aisle work this past Session has earned an endorsement from at least one of his Democratic colleagues.
State Rep. Jose Alvarez, a freshman Democratic lawmaker and former Kissimmee Mayor, confirmed he is backing Basabe’s bid for a third term representing House District 106.
He described Basabe as a compassionate, considerate and thoughtful policymaker who values people over politics.
“Fabián Basabe is a great individual,” Alvarez told Florida Politics in an interview Thursday.
“I’m a registered Democrat, but I’m a believer that no matter what party you represent, you represent the people first. Any legislators that follow the same path I do, I’m happy to work with them. And Fabián was one of those last Session. He truly cares for the people he represents, and that’s why I don’t mind putting my name behind him.”
Alvarez and Basabe were among five state lawmakers to recently receive a “Protect the Protector” award for their support of law enforcement at the National Fraternal Order of Police’s biennial conference in Miami Beach this week. Others included state Reps. Danny Alvarez of Hillsborough County, Omar Blanco of Miami and Alex Rizo of Hialeah — all Republicans.
The two lawmakers were co-prime sponsors of legislation (HB 355) aimed at expanding which opioid overdose reversal drugs public schools could stock. It was later absorbed into a larger education package Gov. Ron DeSantis approved in June.
It was one of numerous “positive things” Basabe helped to accomplish in Tallahassee this year whose beneficiaries aren’t determined by partisan division, Alvarez said.
Alvarez’s endorsement of Basabe comes five months after House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell confronted Alvarez in a House hallway for voting in favor of a since-passed measure (HB 1205) that added more hurdles to ballot petition gathering.
Driskell told Florida Politics at the time that she merely wanted to ask him why he’d changed his vote from “no” to “yes” without discussing the matter with Democratic leadership and that Alvarez refused to speak with her.
Alvarez, conversely, said Driskell was “very disrespectful” and berated him in front of other lawmakers, an assertion that Basabe alone went on record to support.
“We were already working together,” Alvarez said Thursday. “That was just the icing on the cake, having him truly stand behind myself on what happened and having my back no matter what party we are.”
Basabe said in a statement that Alvarez values “leadership grounded in common sense, accountability, and results,” adding that the Democrat’s support reflects “a shared belief that good policy and honest partnerships can rise above party lines to serve the people.”
“Progress is not partisan,” he said. “Neither is integrity.”
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.
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.
Driskell did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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