Family feud or dirty election tactics? The point seems to be to trick Miami-Dade voters | Opinion
There might be an effort to mislead voters in a Miami-Dade County race. Whether this is about a family feud or an organized partisan effort, it shouldn’t matter. It’s likely to make it harder for the people to voice their opinion in an election.
House District 106, covering Miami Beach and other oceanside cities, is perhaps one of the most competitive legislative seats in Florida. Republican state Rep. Fabian Basabe pulled off a razor-thin victory in 2022 despite Democrats having usually represented the area.
Now — with Basabe under fire for accusations against him of improper behavior and for voting for the law known as “Don’t say gay” — a wild card has been thrown into the race.
The aunt of his Democratic opponent Joe Saunders has filed to run as an independent candidate under a similar name as her nephew, the Miami Herald reported. Maureen Saunders Scott lives hundreds of miles away near Jacksonville. Yet she will appear on the ballot in district 106 as “Moe Saunders.” She signed an affidavit swearing she did not create the nickname to mislead voters,but the effects might be just that.
Worse, Scott’s name will appear immediately below Saunders’ on the Nov. 5 ballot. How many voters could mistakenly choose “Moe” instead of “Joe?” Saunders has sued to prevent his aunt from appearing on the ballot. His lawsuit claims that she used to go by “Mo,” short for Maureen, but never “Moe” until now. She told the Herald she has “been Moe for over 40 years.”
Joe Saunders has reason to worry. In a race that might be close, a few dozen confused voters could be enough to sway the results.
It’s happened before in Miami-Dade. In 2020, a “ghost candidate” with the same last name as the Democratic incumbent in a Florida Senate race was paid to run in the race. Like Scott, he filed to run as an independent and did not live in the district. Then-Sen. Jose Javier Rodríguez lost by 32 votes to Republican Ileana Garcia.
The case resulted in the arrest of Frank Artiles, a former GOP state senator who prosecutors say was behind the alleged scheme to siphon votes away from Democrats by paying more than $40,000 to the third-party candidate to run.
To be clear, there’s no evidence at this point that “Moe Saunders” is a ghost candidate recruited by Republicans to influence the District 106 election. Basabe has denied any involvement.
Scott might be a disgruntled relative of Saunders. An X account that appears to belong to her suggested that Joe Saunders failed to speak out and protect her against an abusive relative, a claim the Miami Herald was not able to corroborate.
Regardless, this controversy is a distraction from Basabe’s short but tumultuous record in the Florida House. After campaigning as a moderate who would stand by Miami Beach’s large LGBTQ+ community, he voted for some of the most vitriol-filled legislation in Florida, supporting a crackdown on minors attending drag shows and the parental rights law critics call “Don’t say gay” that prohibits discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms. He was booed at a Miami Beach Pride event last year.
Basabe was also accused of slapping his legislative aide and of sexual harassment by the aide and a former intern, accusations he denied. A law firm hired by the Florida House to investigate the slap allegation found that there was “physical contact” between Basabe and his aide but that no witnesses could corroborate the incident.
An investigation into the sexual harassment allegations found the claims could not be substantiated but that Basabe “likely should exercise better judgment regarding observing the delicate margins between the personal and professional with his subordinates.”
With all this context, the “Moe Saunders” candidacy throws a potential wrench into a race that should be about the issues and who would represent coastal Miami-Dade voters better — and not be mired in a family feud or, if the evidence ever bears that out, a scheme to confuse voters.
Click here to send the letter.
