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Martinez becomes first
Cuban American in Senate
Mike Schneider, Associated
Press. Posted on Wed, Nov. 03, 2004 in The
Miami Herald.
ORLANDO, Fla. - Mel Martinez frames his
life as a classic immigrant success story
- a teenage refugee from Cuba who eventually
reaches the height of political power.
Four years ago, he became the first Cuban-American
to serve in a presidential cabinet. On Wednesday,
he defeated Democrat Betty Castor to win
the Senate seat being vacated by retiring
Sen. Bob Graham. He is the first Cuban-American
ever elected to the U.S. Senate.
Martinez arrived in Florida from Cuba four
decades ago, leaving his family behind on
the communist island. He was placed with
a foster family in Orlando, studied hard
to learn English and worked odd jobs that
helped him buy his father a used car when
his parents arrived in the United States
four years later.
Martinez, 58, put himself through college
and earned a law degree at Florida State
University. He then made a name for himself
on the local political scene - becoming
chairman of Orange County government - before
President Bush named him housing secretary
in 2000.
"It's a mix of experiences that I
think keeps me in touch with the common
man. I'm not someone who's forgotten where
he comes from," Martinez said. "My
understanding of freedom and oppression,
my understanding of a government that ran
amok and tried to do everything and did
nothing well, my understanding of having
to make your way in life, having to pay
your way through college, living alone,
living in a foster home."
Martinez was groomed in national politics
during the past three years by Bush and
his Republican advisers. Former Democratic
supporters from Martinez's days in Orlando
politics said they think Washington's influence
made Martinez more partisan and conservative
- a suggestion he denies.
He ran a sometimes contentious campaign.
Martinez accused Castor, a former state
education commissioner, of not doing enough
to crack down on a professor accused of
supporting terrorism when she was president
of the University of South Florida in the
1990s. Castor denied the accusations.
Similar hardball tactics were used in the
GOP primary race. His campaign released
mailings and a short-lived ad that described
former U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum, an undisputed
conservative, as a darling of the "radical
homosexual lobby" for supporting hate-crime
legislation that covered gays among other
groups.
The primary left McCollum fuming. Martinez
blamed the tactics on staff members and
he said he made staff changes as a result.
By contrast, Martinez earned a "Mr.
Nice Guy" reputation as a pragmatist
supported by both Democrats and Republicans
when he was chairman of Orange County government
between 1998 and 2000. Before winning elective
office, Martinez had worked as a lawyer
in a politically connected law firm.
As HUD secretary, Martinez won praise from
consumer groups for trying to make changes
to simplify the mortgage settlement process
during home purchases; HUD shelved the proposal
after Martinez left. He also launched an
initiative to reduce homelessness.
His critics said he lacked a comprehensive
vision for the agency, favored helping moderate-income
people become homeowners over building new
public housing for the poor and that he
failed to maintain and revitalize the public
housing stock.
Martinez, who has a friendship with President
Bush, supports the commander in chief on
almost every issue with one exception. Martinez,
a former trial lawyer, supports higher caps
on lawyer's fees in medical malpractice
cases than that pushed by Republicans.
He stepped down from his cabinet post at
the urging of the White House and Bush political
adviser Karl Rove, who hoped his addition
to the ballot would shore up the Cuban vote
for the president and pre-empt U.S. Rep.
Katherine Harris, R-Fla., from entering
the race.
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