Ashley Litwin Diego, left, and Lucia Báez-Geller, right, are vying for the District 106 seat in the Democratic primary.  

Ashley Litwin Diego, left, and Lucia Báez-Geller, right, are vying for the District 106 seat in the Democratic primary.  

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Editorial Board’s endorsements for primary elections

Registered voters in Florida will be able to cast ballots in the Aug. 18 primary election through vote-by-mail, early voting or voting on Election Day. Voters will decide races for judges, the school board, the county commission, state Legislature, U.S. Senate, U.S. House and governor.

Read the Miami Herald Editorial Board’s endorsements.

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Former Miami-Dade School Board member Lucia Báez-Geller and trial lawyer Ashley Litwin Diego are competing in the Democratic primary to represent Florida House District 106, which stretches from Aventura and Sunny Isles Beach to Miami Beach and Fisher Island. This competitive seat in a swing district is currently held by Republican state Rep. Fabián Basabe.

We believe Litwin Diego is the best choice for this seat because she would bring a fresh perspective and creative solutions to Tallahassee.

Litwin Diego, 45, a breast-cancer survivor and defense attorney, said she’s running because “with Roe v. Wade being overturned, vaccine mandates gone, schools being closed, LGBTQ rights, [it] felt like we were going back in time… I realized that if I wanted to truly make a difference and make a real impact, that I would have to step out of my comfort zone and do this thing and run for office.”

And she has walked the talk — literally. Litwin Diego qualified to run for this seat by petition signatures, knocking on doors in the district to learn first-hand from voters what their priorities are. She has also been endorsed by Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and former Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber.

Among the top issues she identified in the district: combatting sea-level rise, affordability and fixing unpopular state laws like the Live Local Act. In an already overbuilt barrier island and in Aventura neighborhoods near Biscayne Bay, Live Local is viewed by some as an attack on residents’ quality of life.

The state law is meant to accelerate much-needed affordable housing by exempting certain developments from local density and zoning laws if at least 40% of the development contains workforce housing. But the state’s definition of workforce housing is so broad, it has fallen short on providing more housing for those who need it most.

Litwin Diego said she would also focus on resiliency, pushing for a master plan from Miami Beach to Aventura. “It’s ground zero for flooding,” she told the Editorial Board.

On the affordability front, her first bill would help condo owners dealing with huge assessments. She would work across the aisle for the state to offer low- or no-interest loans for condominium owners — particularly retirees on fixed incomes — to pay off assessments needed to repair older buildings. Her second bill would focus on expanding home insurance options to lower property insurance premiums.

In her legal work, Litwin Diego has helped Transitions, a nonprofit that receives some county funding, to help train former inmates for jobs and earn a decent living.

Litwin Diego has not run for office before but her competitor, Baez-Geller, left the school board to run for Congress in 2024 and lost to GOP Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar. She has a number of labor unions and party officials backing her. A teacher by training, Baez-Geller told the Editorial Board she is running for the state House this time because education is her passion.

Representation in District 106 is particularly important right now, after a jury in mid-July found the current representative, Basabe, liable for $450,000 in damages after a civil trial accusing him of sexual harassment, battery and defamation. The case involved a former legislative aide and a former intern. Basabe is still running for reelection. The winner in the Democratic primary will face him in the November general election.

Litwin Diego, mother of three children, has a clear idea of the path she would take if elected, saying that “to get anything accomplished you have to get all sides involved. … I’m not leaving my three kids to go to Tallahassee and get nothing accomplished. … I will fight for common ground.”

The Herald endorses ASHLEY LITWIN DIEGO in the Democratic Primary for state House District 106.

This story was originally published July 31, 2026 at 4:13 PM.