Basabe Confronted Levine Cava at a Miami Beach Voting Site Saturday — Two Days Before His Own Election

A state representative running for re-election on Tuesday spent part of his final Saturday confronting the county mayor at an early voting site. State Rep. Fabian Basabe confronted Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava as she had coffee at a cafe next to Miami Beach City Hall, an early voting location, and followed her to her car in a city garage, the Miami Herald reported — an account that rests on the Herald's reporting and on videos released by both sides.

The mayor's side released its film first. Christian Ulvert, Levine Cava's top political adviser, filmed and released an 81-second video of the encounter, called Basabe's conduct disgraceful and a stunt meant to rattle a public servant, and said the mayor felt threatened. Levine Cava skipped an event she had planned at City Hall with Lucia Baez-Geller — the Democrat challenging Basabe in Tuesday's election for Florida House District 106 — after the confrontation. Basabe's answer, in a text to the Herald, was that the encounter was free speech; he criticised Ulvert for speaking for the mayor and said the mayor and his opponent should answer questions.

It was the second day running that Basabe's conduct at that voting site drew an official response: on Friday, a video posted on X showed a Miami Beach police officer warning him he would be ticketed for being too loud on a microphone at the same site. No arrest or citation from Saturday's encounter has been reported. What it becomes now is a District 106 fact: the last image of Basabe's campaign before Tuesday's vote is an argument at a polling place, filmed by the other side — and both campaigns have the video to prove their version of it.