Special Election Called To Replace Daisy Baez

TALLAHASSEE, FL — Florida Gov. Rick Scott ordered a special primary election for Feb. 20 to fill the seat left vacant by the resignation of former State Rep. Daisy Baez, who was forced to step down amid a residency controversy. Baez entered into a plea agreement with the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office on Wednesday over a charge that she falsified her address to run for office in House District 114 when she actually lived in a neighboring district.

See also Former State Rep. Daisy Baez Accepts Plea Deal Over Residency

"A Special Primary Election will be held on Feb. 20, 2018, and a Special Election will be held on May 1, 2018, based on requested dates by the Supervisor of Elections in Miami-Dade County," according to the governor's office.

Baez resigned her state post on Nov. 1 and will be barred from seeking public office for the next year. She will serve one year probation.

Baez was elected in 2016 to the Florida Legislature to represent House District 114, which includes a portion of Coral Gables, just not the portion she lived in, according to prosecutors. She was charged with perjury when not in an official proceeding, a first degree misdemeanor.

As a further condition of her plea agreement, Baez is not eligible for an early termination to her probation.

Baez actually lives in District 112, according to the State Attorney's Office. That district is served by Representative Nicholas X. Duran.

Prosecutors said that Baez changed her voter registration address from 11 Malaga Avenue to a condominium at 2401 Anderson Road in Coral Gables. The condominium was owned by a friend, Maritza Jacobson, and Dr. Robert Jacobson.

Photo courtesy Florida House Of Representatives