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Florida's Mel Martinez Won't Seek Re-election

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Dec 2, 2008 10:28 am US/Eastern

Florida's Mel Martinez Won't Seek Re-election

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) ― U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida, who has struggled to boost his approval rating because of close ties to President George W. Bush, announced Tuesday that he will not seek a second term in 2010.

Martinez, 62, said at a news conference that he wants to spend more time with his family, and made his decision public now because he wanted to give other Republican candidates enough time to mount their campaigns.

Martinez was elected in 2004 after serving as the U.S. secretary for Housing and Urban Development in the Bush administration. He served as general chairman of the Republican National Committee for 10 months, resigning in October 2007.

Martinez was born in Cuba. At the age of 15, he fled to America as part of a Catholic humanitarian effort called Operation Pedro Pan. Catholic charitable groups provided Martinez, who was alone and spoke virtually no English, a temporary home at two youth facilities. He then lived with two foster families, with whom he remains close. He was reunited with his family in Orlando in 1966.

In appointing Martinez in 2001, Bush said he was "the embodiment of the American Dream."

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