LGBTQ+ candidates lose races for Florida legislature

Florida voters delivered a series of disappointments to LGBTQ+ candidates for legislative seats. Every gay and trans candidate on the ballot for Florida House and Senate suffered losses.

That included two Democratic candidates, Joe Saunders and Nate Douglas, who had outraised Republican incumbents and boasted support from the Agenda PAC. Saunders faced Florida Rep. Fabian Basabe, a Miami Beach incumbent facing a number of allegations in court of sexually harassing male staffers. Saunders previously served in the Florida House as one of the first gay lawmakers ever elected in the state.

Basabe has denied all accusations against him, and two internal investigations by the Florida House found no basis to the allegations. "The winner last night was the honorable integrity of character that people allow to be attacked through indifference," Basabe said in a statement to The Advocate. "My largest enemies throughout this campaign were far from those who were allowed to print whatever they want without consequences, they weren’t my opponents, they weren’t Democrats, nor were they the Republicans I battle with to help push through the much needed common sense that some still find difficult to come to terms with. But rather, my largest enemy was the indifference of people — not because what they see doesn’t matter, but because it’s loaded with consequences they cannot afford."

Douglas, meanwhile, was challenging Republican Rep. Susan Plasencia, who two years ago unseated progressive LGBTQ lawmaker Carlos Guillermo Smith. While Smith this year won election to a Florida Senate seat unopposed, Douglas appeared unable to dislodge Plasencia from her seat challenging her votes to expand Florida’s “don’t say gay” law and to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in the state’s universities. But the outcome of the race remained somewhat uncertain as 38,000 ballots in the Orlando-area district remained uncounted as of midnight on Election Night.

The pro-LGBTQ+ Agenda PAC identified both Basabe and Plasencia as part of a "hate squad" of Republican lawmakers the national group hoped to defeat.

Under Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida policy has shifted in a distinctly anti-LGBTQ+ direction, something Democrats hoped would produce a backlash. But efforts to cut down Republican supermajorities in the Florida House and Senate crumbled on Tuesday, the same night efforts to restore abortion rights and legalize marijuana also failed.

Florida also had Democrats hoping to be elected as the first transgender members of the legislature.

But Democrat Vance Ahrens, a trans woman, lost a Florida Senate race against Republican Randy Fine, a state lawmaker who openly supported “erasing” the transgender community.

Additionally, Nathan Bruemmer, a trans man, and Ashley Brundage, a trans woman, both challenged Republican incumbents but were not able to unseat them to win spots in the Florida House.

Brundage in the last days of the campaign saw mailers attacking her as a “biological male” who wanted trans females competing in girls’ sports in violation of Florida’s trans sports ban.

That doesn’t mean the Florida legislature will have no LGBTQ+ representation next year. Florida Rep. Michele Rayner, a lesbian, won reelection to a third House term, winning almost 73 percent of the vote in a heavily Democratic seat. In the Senate, Smith will join Shevrin Jones, a Democrat who was not up for reelection this cycle. That means the Florida Senate for the first time will have two out members.

Update: This article was amended to include a response by state Rep. Fabian Basabe and also to include that he denies the allegations of sexual harassment. The article also now notes the Florida House found no basis in the allegations.