Joe vs. Moe: Does Miami Have Another Ghost Candidate?

Last week, a mysterious candidate entered the Florida House of Representatives District 106 race against incumbent State Rep. Fabián Basabe.

On Thursday, June 7, Maureen Saunders Scott filed to enter the race as a No Party Affiliation (NPA) candidate. Records show the 63-year-old doesn't live in District 106 — which covers the barrier island communities of Miami Beach, Sunny Isles, and Bay Harbor Islands — but in a townhouse near Jacksonville, nearly 300 miles away. In the November election, she will face Basabe, Republican attorney Melinda Almonte, and former Florida Democratic state Rep. Joe Saunders, who filed to run against Basabe in May 2023 as the freshman legislator made headlines for breaking campaign promises and getting mixed up in tabloid-worthy antics.

Scant other information about Saunders Scott is publicly available. There appears to be no trace of her online or on social media.

It wasn't Scott's address that caught the eye of some Miami Beach residents. It was her name. Why, suddenly, were two people named Saunders vying for the same House seat? the NoBe News Facebook page wanted to know. More to the point: Could this be a case of a latecomer filing for office in an attempt to confuse voters?

On Thursday, June 13, the Florida State Department's Division of Elections set the slate for the general election. All four candidates from District 106 qualified.

There was one change, however: "Maureen Saunders Scott" will appear on the ballot as "Moe Saunders."

Moreover, New Times has obtained public records that appear to show that Maureen Saunders Scott, AKA Moe Saunders, is Joe Saunders' aunt.

New Times has twice called the phone number listed on Saunders Scott's campaign documents. There was no response to a voicemail message, and a follow-up phone call two days later found Saunders Scott's mailbox was full.

Joe Saunders did not immediately respond to New Times' initial request for comment. Reached a second time, he directed a reporter to political consultant Christian Ulvert, who has not provided a comment.
Floridians Are Familiar With Campaign Name Games
Ben Wilcox, research director at the nonprofit government watchdog group Integrity Florida, says he sees parallels between this scenario and the sham candidate scheme allegedly orchestrated by former Republican state senator Frank Artiles.

"I think potentially she could be a ghost candidate," Wilcox says, citing "the fact that she doesn't live in the district [and] the fact that she doesn't have real ties to that community."

In 2021, Artiles surrendered to local authorities after he was accused of masterminding a plan to plant a so-called ghost candidate with no party affiliation in the 2020 District 37 state senate race. That candidate, Alex Rodriguez, shared a surname with incumbent Democrat José Javier Rodriguez. Artiles is scheduled to go to trial on three felony campaign-finance charges this summer.

The Other Candidates in House District 106

Joe Saunders, senior political director for the LGBTQ advocacy group Equality Florida, was one of the first openly gay members in the Florida legislature back after Orlando residents elected him to the Florida House in 2012.

Basabe, a onetime Miami Beach "it" boy, came out as gay during a 2021 Florida LGBTQ Democratic caucus while seeking a seat on the Miami Beach City Commission. He was subsequently removed from the ballot after a lawsuit challenged his residency. The following year, he ran for the state legislature, defeating Democrat Jordan Leonard in November of 2022.

Basabe proceeded to support legislation prohibiting transgender people from entering public restrooms that didn't match their sex assigned at birth. He also backed Gov. Ron DeSantis' "Don't Say Gay" legislation banning classroom discussion involving sexual orientation and gender identity. And he was a no-show for the vote on the state's six-week abortion ban, which went into effect in May.

Those political stances, coupled with tabloid-worthy headlines alleging he slapped his legislative aide in the face at a reception in Tallahassee, led some to call for his resignation.

Basabe denied the allegation.

After a two-month investigation, the law firm hired by the Florida House of Representatives could not verify whether the slap occurred, New Times reported in 2023.

"With respect to the specific allegation by [the aide] that he was slapped in the face by Basabe, based upon conflicts in the factual accounts provided by the participants and a lack of corroborating witnesses, the finding is inconclusive," the law firm's report reads.

Update published 8:55 p.m.: Claire VanSusteren, spokeswoman for Joe Saunders' campaign, emailed the statement below in response to our requests for comment:

"Today, Fabian Basabe and the Republican Party showed their cards with a coordinated and orchestrated effort to fool voters in HD 106. But their shameless tactics will not work as voters will see through their attempts to mislead our community. Joe Saunders has a strong record of true public service anchored on his promise to take on critical issues like out-of-control property insurance, protections for Biscayne Bay, putting an end to the continued overreach coming from Tallahassee, and stopping the attacks on our personal freedoms."