U.S. Housing Secretary Mel Martinez is expected to announce his candidacy for Bob Graham's Senate seat next month.
By BILL ADAIR and STEVE BOUSQUET
Published December 10, 2003
WASHINGTON - U.S. Housing Secretary Mel Martinez resigned Tuesday, clearing the way for him to run for the U.S. Senate from Florida.
Martinez said he is leaving the Cabinet post at noon Friday. Early next month, he is expected to announce his campaign for the seat held by Sen. Bob Graham, who is retiring.
Martinez, the former chief executive in Orange County, on Tuesday issued a statement touting his record as secretary of Housing and Urban Development, but he did not say why he was resigning. Martinez had to resign his Cabinet post to run for the Senate.
His candidacy complicates an already crowded race for the Republican nomination. The candidates include former U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum, state House Speaker Johnnie Byrd and state Sen. Daniel Webster. U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris, R-Sarasota, is considering entering the race.
Martinez's political advisers have been plotting his campaign for several weeks, calling GOP leaders in Florida and talking with potential campaign staffers.
Martinez is the choice of many influential Republicans in Washington who say the other candidates may have a difficult time against a Democratic field that includes former Education Commissioner Betty Castor, Rep. Peter Deutsch of Fort Lauderdale and Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas.
But publicly, the Bush administration has insisted it will be neutral.
U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, R-West Palm Beach, said Martinez may not be the official White House candidate, but top Bush fundraisers have signaled that Martinez is their choice.
"I would suggest this is a strongly orchestrated effort to get him into the race," said Foley, who was the front-runner until he dropped out because his father was ill. "This was not a decision he reached on his own. I think there was a very strong appeal made" by the White House.
With Martinez getting the unofficial endorsement from the White House, Foley said, "people start falling in line and the money becomes easy for Mel. I think the wallets start opening up."
President Bush said in a statement that Martinez "is a good friend and an exceptional public servant."
Martinez, who came to the United States from Cuba when he was a boy, is expected to be a formidable candidate. He will not only have the backing of key Republicans - and plenty of campaign money from them - but his tenure at HUD, which oversees housing for the poor, should appeal to some moderate and Democratic voters.
But he also has a past that could cause him big problems in a crowded Republican primary.
Martinez was president of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers in the late 1980s and was registered to lobby for the group in Tallahassee. It was a time when that powerful interest group had just defeated the medical lobby in a costly and high-profile initiative campaign aimed at capping fees in personal injury cases, known as Amendment 10.
At that time, Martinez took the opposite stand that many Republicans, including Gov. Jeb Bush, take now. Bush, in fact, has singled out trial lawyers in particular as a well-heeled and powerful political force that opposes his policies and those of his brother, President Bush.
In addition, Martinez has personally donated money to a variety of Democratic candidates over the years, including Delaware Sen. Joe Biden and former Florida insurance commissioner Bill Gunter.
McCollum, who also is from Orlando, already had begun to criticize the housing secretary even before Tuesday's resignation.
"It's rather shocking that the former president of the trial lawyers who once gave money to defeat Connie Mack and Paula Hawkins now wants to be the Republican nominee," said Shannon Gravitte, spokeswoman for the McCollum campaign.
Some Republicans have said privately that they hope Byrd will get out of the race, possibly by running for Rep. Michael Bilirakis' seat if the Tarpon Springs Republican retires. But Bilirakis said this week that he is planning to run for re-election.
- Political editor Adam Smith contributed to this report.
