Another local leader yanks support of Fabián Basabe after sexual harassment verdict

Another elected official in Miami Beach Rep. Fabián Basabe’s district is rescinding his endorsement of the Republican lawmaker in the wake of a jury verdict that found him liable for sexual harassment, battery and defamation.

Sunny Isles Beach Commissioner Alex Lama, who said he was “proud to endorse” Basabe in a statement this past March, has changed his position following the court decision.

“I informed Rep. Basabe and his office that I am withdrawing my endorsement and support, effective immediately,” Lama told Florida Politics. “I am disgusted and wholeheartedly oppose this kind of behavior.”

Lama joins two fellow Republicans — Surfside Commissioner Ruben Coto and Bal Harbour Council Member Buzzy Sklar — and Kissimmee Democratic Rep. Jose Alvarez in canceling their endorsements of Basabe, who was ordered last week to pay $450,000 to former aide Nicolas Frevola and former intern Jacob Cutbirth.

The two men have, for years, accused Basabe of slapping Frevola’s face and buttocks, groping and attempting to kiss Cutbirth, making repeated unwelcome sexual comments towards both, and defaming Frevola and his mother in a social media post.

A separate suit the plaintiffs brought against the House, which they accuse of insufficiently investigating their claims against Basabe, remains pending. The two 2023 investigations by the House — one into the face-slapping incident, the other into the accusations of sexual impropriety — resulted in an “inconclusive” finding and “no evidence” of wrongdoing, respectively.

Florida Politics on Friday also reached North Bay Village Mayor Rachel Streitfeld, who praised Basabe in writing in December, citing his responsiveness, collaboration and delivery of state appropriations to the municipality, along with every other elected official there.

“I do not endorse him,” she said by text, but did not respond to follow-up questions about whether she still stands by her prior statement.

On Thursday, Florida Politics spoke briefly with Miami-Dade County Tax Collector Dariel Fernandez and Aventura Commissioner Gustavo Blachman, who endorsed Basabe last August and September, respectively.

Fernandez, who had no reception issues when the phone call began, said he was having connection troubles because he was in an elevator and would return the call “in five minutes.”

He never did. He also didn’t answer the phone later that day and ignored multiple texts. Another call Friday morning went unanswered, too.

Blachman said, simply, “I have no comment at this time.”

Florida Politics also contacted every other current or former elected official who has endorsed or expressed support for Basabe to ask whether their support stands after last week’s verdict.

They include Hialeah Republican Rep. Alex Rizo; Bay Harbor Islands Mayor Isaac Salver; Golden Beach Mayor Glenn Singer; Bay Harbor Islands Vice Mayor Stephanie Bruder; North Bay Village Vice Mayor Goran Cuk; Golden Beach Vice Mayor Judy Lusskin; Sunny Isles Beach Vice Mayor Jennifer Viscarra; Bay Harbor Islands Council Member Joshua Fuller; Golden Beach Council Members Kenneth Bernstein, Bernard Einstein and Jessie Mendal; North Bay Village Commissioners Doris Acosta, Richard Chervony and Andy Daro; Sunny Isles Beach Commissioner Fabiola Struyvesant; and former Sunny Isles Beach Mayor Dana Goldman.

Two Democrats are running to unseat Basabe in House District 106, which covers a coastal strip of Miami-Dade between Miami Beach and Aventura: former Miami-Dade School Board Member Lucia Báez-Geller and lawyer Ashley Litwin Diego, a first-time candidate.

Both have significantly outraised Basabe this cycle, according to the most recent campaign finance reporting, though Basabe has enjoyed about $140,000 in in-kind aid, mostly from the Florida House Republican Campaign Committee for phone banking and consulting expenses.

HD 106 is considered to be among Florida’s most flippable districts, having gone to President Donald Trump by 9 percentage points in 2024 and to former President Joe Biden four years earlier by 10 points, according to MCI Maps.

Basabe, a former reality TV personality and socialite, defeated former Bay Harbor Islands Mayor Jordan Leonard in 2022 by less than a percentage point to succeed term-limited Democratic Rep. Joe Geller — who has since replaced Báez-Geller, no relation, on the Miami-Dade School Board — in HD 106.

He won re-election by a 4-point margin two years later.

The Primary is Aug. 18, followed by the General Election on Nov. 3.