November 12, 2003
...on Florida Senate.
Again (!) Mel is in the Florida Mix.
The exit of Sen. Bob Graham (D) from the 2004 Florida Senate race has stirred the pot - but this time it’s the GOP’s pot.
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Mel Martinez is taking yet another look at a possible Florida Senate run, and the White House seems to be encouraging him to run.
Martinez has been the focus of National Republican Senatorial Committee interest in the past, but he has always dismissed pleas to run for the GOP Senate nomination. Instead, the Secretary has made it clear that he is much more interested in an executive position, such as Governor of Florida in 2006. But now, after indicating that he might consider a Senate race, national Republican strategists are pushing him to run.
Word of Martinez’s interest comes on the heels of apparently inaccurate reports that Cong. Katherine Harris (R) likely to announce soon for the Senate. The freshman Republican told the Report today (Wednesday) that that is not the case.
She says that she and her husband "are just starting to talk about this now," and she emphasizes that she isn’t close to jumping into the Senate race. "I love being in the House," she said.