U.S. SENATE RACE, Housing secretary considers run

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Fri, Nov. 14, 2003

U.S. SENATE RACE
Housing secretary considers run
U.S. Housing Secretary Mel Martínez says he may seek Bob Graham's Senate seat, an idea supported by GOP leaders in Washington but not by local Republicans.
BY PETER WALLSTEN
[e-mail]

U.S. Housing Secretary Mel Martínez, who five months ago ruled out a bid for the U.S. Senate, said Thursday he's now exploring the race amid heavy lobbying from people ''high in the Republican Party'' worried that the GOP lacks a front-runner in the race to replace retiring Democrat Bob Graham.

But even as leading Republican senators and White House strategists appeared to egg on a Martínez candidacy as a boost for Hispanic turnout in President Bush's reelection campaign, the idea met stiff resistance from the existing candidates, key Florida Republicans already committed to supporting them -- and from the president's own brother.

Martínez ''is going to have to earn it,'' Gov. Jeb Bush told reporters in Orlando, where the president was raising money for his reelection. ``We have candidates who had the courage to run when Bob Graham was a probable Senate candidate, and I think we should be respectful of the political process and allow the primary voters to make the decision.''

Even as Martínez and his leading advocates said his presence would galvanize the state's politically powerful Cuban-American voter base, it was clear Thursday he would not easily claim that mantle.
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http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/7256423.htm






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