Daisy Baez should resign, not just drop out of other race

Daisy Baez should resign, not just drop out of other race
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Legislator admits she doesn’t sleep in District 114

State Rep. Daisy Baez announced Friday that she was dropping out of the Democratic primary to replace former Sen. Frank Artiles in District 40. But, maybe Baez should resign from the legislature altogether.

That’s not only because she still lives outside the district — admitting to Ladra on Saturday that she sleeps in District 112 — but also because she quite possibly lied on her voter’s registration form, which would be a third degree felony.

Baez cited her mother’s failing health as the reason why she was withdrawing from the special election to replace Artiles, who resigned after getting caught insulting other legislators in a racially- and sexist-tinged rant.

“My life today is a direct reflection of my mother’s decision to immigrate to this country and work multiple jobs to ensure that I could live the American Dream,” Baez said in a statement sent just after 1 p.m.

“Just after announcing my intention to run for the Florida Senate, my mother’s health deteriorated and it became clear to me that spending time with her now is of utmost importance. As her daughter, caring for her is my number one priority. Therefore, I will not pursue a campaign for the Florida Senate,” she said. “Instead, I will spend the upcoming weeks with my family and continue to use my voice in the Florida House to speak out clearly and forcefully to fight for better jobs, to protect our environment, to ensure we all have access to affordable health care, and to support our public schools.”

That would be the right thing to do. But the news also comes three days after a Miami Herald story exposed the fact that she likely does not live in the district she represents, which explains why Baez was bold enough to think she could run for a Senate District where she doesn’t live. Now we know she’s done it before. And it looks like it took time to sink in. Because that same day the story came out, last Tuesday night, Baez was at a South Dade Democrats Club meeting showing no signs of backing down.

On Friday, it seems, she finally realized that she can’t overcome this development in a race against two veteran politicians with higher name recognition who — bonus — actually live in the district (Annette Taddeo and Ana Rivas Logan).

Read related story: Three women to battle for Senate 40’s Democrat spot

Which brings us back to why she should resign. Because the voters of House District 114 do not have any representation right now, have not had any representation during this past session. And they deserve some.

Baez apparently let people believe that she had moved from her house on Malaga Avenue (photographed) in District 112, to an apartment on Anderson Road, which is in District 114, right before the election. But the Herald found discrepancies in that. Other people live in the apartment at Anderson and neighbors said that Baez does not live there. Her dogs and campaign staff were at the house on Malaga, which she said was being renovated so she can put it on the market.

It’s more likely that she never moved out of the house where her dogs apparently live. When Ladra spoke to her Saturday afternoon, Baez admitted that she was sleeping at her house, the Malaga house outside the district.

“Right now, I’m sleeping at that house, yes. But I think I don’t want to talk about the situation any more,” she said. “I’m trying to correct the situation. I made an offer on a property today.”

What a coincidence. Today.

Baez said she had always intended to move into the district and said she has documents to show she began the process for a loan in January. But she has not had time between the legislative session and her 92-year-old mother’s health to purchase a new home. “I pretty much left for Tallahasee immediately after I was elected. I’m a normal human being with a million different things to deal with.”

The problem with that is that one of the things she apparently dealt with was trying to fool the public into thinking she lived in the district. When asked multiple times if she ever lived in the Anderson Road apartment, Baez refused to answer but intimated that she had not.

“For the intent of the law, I changed the address,” which sounds to Ladra like she changed it on paper but not in real life. So I asked her again? “When was the last time you slept there?”

“I understand what you are getting at and I’m not going to answer. At this point, I’m focused on getting this corrected and taking care of my mother,” she said.

“Okaaaaaay. Did you ever sleep there even one single night?”

“I understand what you are saying. We are trying to correct that. We feel that we complied with the law at the time,” Baez said. “I’m working fast and furious to correct it. It was not my intention to be outside the law.”

Aha! Outside the law. So, Baez must realize that she may have committed a third degree felony when she filled out a voter’s registration form on Nov. 2, a week before the election, changing her address to the Anderson Road apartment.

Read related story: Red goes blue, blue goes red in four flipped 305 seats

Ladra likes Baez. An Army vet and small business owner, she is on the right side of most issues, even if she is in the minority party and no position to do anything about it. Still, her voice is one that is needed on issues of immigration and housing and education and the environment. So that’s why this hurts. She had the best intentions, but the ends do not justify the means. She should do the right thing and quit. She lied to the people who voted for her. She does not represent them. Her blind ambition — the same ambition that caused her to jump to the Senate race after four months — caused her to run in a district that was not her own.

People have to stop doing that! It wasn’t right for Artiles — who was a state rep in 2011 when Ladra discovered him living in Palmetto Bay, outside his district — when he did it, nor for former State Rep. Eddy Gonzalez, and it isn’t right for Baez.

And Ladra knows the Dems aren’t going to want her to just give up the seat they just won, but they could lose it in two years anyway if someone uses this against her. And that voice she has is going to be somewhat hampered by the fact that it now comes from someone who tried to pull the wool over the voters eyes.

14 Responses to "Daisy Baez should resign, not just drop out of other race"

  1. Alma, Artiles owned up to it and moved only after he was caught (I know. I am the one who caught him). Daisy will move, too. Now that she is caught. I’m sure it took him and his wife and their girls a couple of days so give her that time. Neither one would have done it on their own.

    What you mean to say is that at least he didn’t commit a crime by registering to vote in a different address. I don’t know if that’s true because I don’t remember but I do believe it is. So there is that. Those are facts.

    By the way, in case you care, nobody ever made Eddy move or even fined him or anything. And he never moved. He just waited until he was termed out.

    Love, Ladra

  2. If she lied that’s a real problem, but let’s not pretend that a legislator living outside of the district is actually scandalous. If you went down the list just in Miami-Dade County you’d snare a whole bunch of people. In fact, you should do that. (Did Anitere Flores ever move into her district? Her husband is still registered to vote in a different district.) This is a political game that has never actually proven to matter to voters. Let’s either enforce it across the board or do like congress, which doesn’t even have a residency requirement.

    • Maybe, Charlie boy, it’s not a scandal like it should be because we are so used to it. I don’t know about Sen. Flores, but be sure Ladra will look into it.

      I do know that then State Rep. Frank Artiles was caught and former State Rep. Eddy Gonzalez were both caught by Ladra living outside their respective districts and nothing much happened. And, yes, what’s good for the goose is good for the Democrat.

      And, no, I don’t think we should lose the residency requirement. This country was founded as a representative democracy and should remain so. If not, you will have swaths of people who will not be represented at all.

      But thanks for your feedback. Please comment more often. Ladra misses you.

      Woof!

      • Since you brought up the context of the founding of our country as a representational democracy, I want to point out that the Founding Parents expressly did NOT require district residency for members of Congress, so it is embedded in the U.S. Constitution that the people of a Congressional district shall elect the person most suited for representing them, with no requirement for residency. They didn’t want districts to be drawn to exclude anyone. Of course, there is a requirement in Florida law for state legislators, once they are elected, to live in their district, but I tend to agree more with Thomas Jefferson on this one, that there should be no residency requirement for candidates or elected state legislators, although residency might often be a preference for the voters and is a valid campaign issue. (I also think that is no excuse for not following the law, even if I disagree with it.)

        Ross

        • Then Ross, candidates should be upfront with their voting constituencies about where they truly live…

          I can come on board with your point, but only if there is integrity, transparency and honesty from the beginning…

          I think Daisy is probably the victim of bad Democrat, political consulting… It pays to hire people with integrity…

      • Ladra. You’re omitting a few facts. Daisy is lying about it. Trying to cover up. Artiles owned up to it and moved.

  3. Ana Rivas-Logan doesn’t live in State House District 40 according to her voter registration either. I’m no fan of Taddeo but why are people lying for Ana?

  4. I have been told FLORIDA’S LAWS ON THIS ARE INTENTIONALLY VAGUE ON THE PART OF THE LEGISLATURE. I have been told THE FLORIDA LEGISLATURE INTENTIONALLY ALLOWS CANDIDATES TO LIVE OUTSIDE THEIR DISTRICTS, BY WORDING STATUTES TOO VAGUELY TO BE ENFORCED.

    Why, then, discriminate against Daisy Baez?!

    • What is so sad is that, if true, this is what allows the state of florida to be, imo, one of the most corrupt in the country.

  5. Maybe the Dems should try doing something new, if they want to start winning. They should adopt more honest practices. I am sure the puppet masters convinced Baez to file and run. They probably told her it wasn’t against the law.

    We deserve to be represented with a voice of those who live among us and fairly represent us. We need to stop allowing carpet baggers to succeed. We need to trust ourselves better to elect our own.

    Shouldn’t Rivas Logan be a no brainer? She should still carry support from the right wingers in the district…

    Just Say No 2 More Taddeo

  6. This is the type of piece for which some of us still visit this site…

    It’s an opinion piece revolving around facts and devoid of hypocrisy. There isn’t a seeming bias toward a female candidate. No apparent bias toward the left or right – party politics are horrible anyway. Acknowledges Baez’s solid traits, but sticks to the central point: she tried to pull a fast one, just like Artiles once did. Nonsense regardless of party affiliation. Overall consistency from Ladra here.

    Thank you for this one.

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