Longtime councilman and former socialite run for coastal Miami-Dade Florida House seat
Jordan Leonard and Fabian Basabe have very different résumés.
Leonard is a Democrat with a long history in local government, including more than a decade as a mayor and council member in Bay Harbor Islands.
Basabe is a Republican trying to break into politics after years as a well-known socialite and reality TV star.
Each won his August primary election for Florida’s redrawn House District 106 — a coastal part of Miami-Dade County that stretches from Miami Beach to Aventura — and says he is the best choice to represent an area that is historically a Democratic stronghold.
A candidate’s forum on Miami Beach earlier this week highlighted their differences.
Leonard is touting his experience.
“You don’t start off being the state Rep.,” Leonard said at the forum. “This is not my first rodeo.”
Basabe, meanwhile, said he’s a moderate who would have access to Republican leadership in Tallahassee.
“I’m inviting you to use me as access,” Basabe said. “We can’t afford a full-out war against everything Tallahassee stands for.”
Leonard says knowledge and experience, not party affiliation, is what helps state legislators secure funds for their districts, pointing to past efforts by Democratic state Reps. Michael Grieco and Joe Geller.
The winner in the Nov. 8 election will replace Geller, who is term-limited.
Leonard’s political leanings generally align with those of the Democratic Party. Asked at the forum about Florida’s recent moves to restrict abortion access, Leonard said: “I am pro-choice, period, full-stop.” The state’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy with no exceptions for rape or incest was “abhorrent,” he added.
Basabe’s political positions are more moderate and, in some cases, more difficult to discern. Regarding abortion, Basabe said at the forum that he is “pro-choice,” but that “life must be respected.”
As for the Florida bill 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 or “in a manner that is not age-appropriate” — Leonard said he would have voted against the “biased” legislation.
Basabe said he, too, would have voted against it, but defended the general concept.
“As a parent, I would like to be a part of any conversation concerning my child,” he said. “At that level, let kids be kids.”
Leonard, 45, owns and operates a small pediatric healthcare business and has served in a variety of government posts, including as an economic policy analyst for Miami-Dade County and an assistant city manager in Opa-locka, where he blew the whistle on corruption in the city’s water utility.
He served on the Town Council in tiny Bay Harbor Islands from 2008 until earlier this year, including three rotating stints as mayor, and is a past president of the Miami-Dade County League of Cities, which advocates for the interests of municipal governments.
Basabe, 44, is the son of a successful Ecuadorian-born businessman and achieved fame as a New York socialite in the mid-2000s, when The Washington Post described him as a “male version” of Paris Hilton. He appeared on multiple reality TV shows in 2005, including the E! Network’s “Filthy Rich: Cattle Drive,” in which the children of wealthy parents worked on a Colorado cattle ranch.
Basabe has faced some controversy in the years since, most notably in 2019 when a publicist told Page Six that Basabe called her the N-word after she didn’t let him into an Art Basel party. He has denied using the racial slur.
In 2020, Basabe was charged with “robbery by sudden snatching” after an altercation with a neighbor. Records show Basabe grabbed a fellow condo resident’s phone and threw it into their building’s pool after the resident filmed him over concerns he wasn’t following social distancing rules.
Basabe told the Miami Herald Editorial Board he took the woman’s phone because she was recording his underage son. The felony charge was reduced to a misdemeanor and Basabe paid a fine.
Today, Basabe is a stay-at-home father as he looks to enter the political fray. His first attempt was unsuccessful last year when a judge disqualified him from running for the Miami Beach City Commission, saying he did not meet the city’s one-year residency requirement.
Basabe is largely self-funding his run for state representative, loaning his campaign $250,000, records show. Basabe’s campaign has raised an additional $50,000 across more than 60 donations, including contributions from Mango’s Tropical Cafe nightclub owner David Wallack and the Republican Party of Florida.
Leonard has raised $236,000 from nearly 400 donors and has loaned about $27,000 to his own campaign.
At the candidate forum in Miami Beach, Basabe suggested he can devote more of his time to legislating than his opponent, given that Leonard owns a business and Basabe is a full-time parent.
“You need somebody who has the time and resources to dedicate [himself] to this full time,” Basabe said.
Leonard said that wouldn’t be a concern.
“What I bring to the table is someone who’s experienced ... someone who’s going to spend every day working for you,” he said.
This story was originally published October 14, 2022 at 9:24 AM.
