Bob Martinez

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the American labor union leader, see Robert Martinez Jr.

Bob Martinez
Governor of Florida
In office
January 6, 1987 – January 8, 1991
LieutenantBobby Brantley
Preceded byWayne Mixson
Succeeded byLawton Chiles
54th Mayor of Tampa
In office
October 1, 1979 – July 16, 1986
Preceded byBill Poe
Succeeded bySandra Freedman
Personal details
Born (1934-12-25) December 25, 1934 (age 89)
Tampa, Florida, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic (before 1983)
Republican (1983–present)
Spouse
Mary Jane Marino
​
(m. 1954)​
Children2
Education
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (MS
)

Robert Martinez (born December 25, 1934) is an American retired politician who served as the 40th

Spanish
descent to be elected governor of Florida.

Martinez was born and raised in

mayor of Tampa in 1974, then won the office in Tampa's next mayoral election in 1979 and was reelected in 1983. During his second term as mayor, Martinez switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican, upsetting some supporters in heavily Democratic Tampa.[2] He resigned the position in 1986 to focus on his ultimately successful campaign for the governorship of Florida. His single term as governor was controversial due to the passage and repeal of an unpopular state sales tax on services and an anti-obscenity campaign targeting Miami rappers 2 Live Crew, who later recorded a derogatory song attacking Martinez. He lost his reelection campaign to U.S. Senator Lawton Chiles
in 1990.

After his time as governor, Martinez was appointed

Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy by President George H. W. Bush
. Martinez held that position from 1991 until 1993 when he returned to Tampa and became a business consultant and a board member of several local educational organizations.

Early life and career

Bob Martinez was born in

Spanish immigrants who had come to Tampa from the province of Asturias to find work in the Spanish/Cuban/Italian neighborhood of Ybor City.[3] Bob Martinez's mother was a seamstress and his father was a waiter at the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City, and the family lived in Ybor City and West Tampa during his youth.[4] Martinez graduated from Jefferson High School in 1953 and earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Tampa
in 1957.

For several years, he taught

high schools. He taught at Oak Grove Junior High for three & half years, starting in 1957.[5]

He then went back to college and earned a

University of Illinois in 1964 and returned to Tampa, working as a business labor consultant. He also taught as an economics instructor at the University of Tampa, in the summer of 1965.[3]

Shortly after graduating, he taught at Chamberlain High School for three & half years. During his time as a teacher there he became involved with the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association.[5]

HCTA

In 1965, Martinez was named the executive director of the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association (HCTA), the local teachers' union in Hillsborough County.[6]

In 1968, the HCTA joined the Florida Education Association's statewide teacher strike in support of more education funding and collective bargaining rights for teachers. Though the labor action was seemingly unsuccessful in the short term, its goals were gradually met over the following few years through court and legislative actions. In 1971, Martinez and the HCTA negotiated the first union contract for Hillsborough County teachers.[7]

Political career

In 1974, Martinez unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Tampa against William "Bill" Poe. He resigned as executive director of the HCTA in 1975 and was appointed vice-chairman of the Southwest Florida Water Management District by Florida Governor Reubin Askew. He also ran Cafe Sevilla, his family's restaurant in West Tampa.[8]

Mayor of Tampa

Martinez with Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush in 1983

Martinez campaigned for mayor against Poe again in 1979 and won.

Lowry Park Zoo, restored the 1915 City Hall building, and annexed thousands of acres of unincorporated land northeast of town that would become the neighborhood of New Tampa
.

Although the mayor's office is nonpartisan, Martinez was known to be a Democrat. However, in 1983, he changed his party affiliation to Republican after meeting with Ronald Reagan when the president was in Tampa to give a speech, causing some dismay among local supporters and leading to speculation that he may eventually run for higher office.[2] Martinez's national profile increased in 1984, when he delivered a speech at the Republican National Convention, and in 1985, when he was elected to the board of directors of the National League of Cities.[4]

Governor of Florida

1986 election

In early 1985, Martinez began actively exploring the possibility of running for governor of Florida, and he formally announced his candidacy in November of that year.[9] In July 1986, he resigned as mayor of Tampa to devote all of his time to the gubernatorial campaign.

Martinez defeated former

U.S. Representative Louis Frey Jr., of Winter Park in the Republican gubernatorial primary election and Democratic state representative Steve Pajcic in the 1986 Florida gubernatorial election. With the election victory, Martinez became the second Republican governor of Florida since Reconstruction and the first Hispanic
governor in Florida history. He was inaugurated on January 6, 1987.

Tenure

Martinez gives his inauguration speech on January 6, 1987.

As governor, Martinez initiated America's largest environmental land acquisition program, Preservation 2000. He proposed the Surface Water Improvement Management Act that protects Florida's surface waters, including

Lake Jackson, the Kissimmee River, and other areas. He helped get Florida's first solid waste management law passed and implemented Florida's Growth Management Act. He was an advocate of laws and rules that protected manatees
and dolphins. He aggressively sought to eliminate wasteful spending projects sponsored by members of the legislature and increased spending on the state's drug control programs. For a time, Martinez was regarded as a "rising star" in Republican politics.

In 1987, following the destruction of the Space Shuttle Challenger the previous year, Martinez appointed a number of the aerospace industry and community leaders to the "Florida Governor's Commission on Space." This concept was undertaken by Stephen Lee Morgan, vice chairman and executive director of the Florida Space Business Roundtable, Inc., a non-profit organization of Central Florida aerospace industry executives. Martinez appointed Martin Marietta executive A. Thomas Young as chairman of the commission, with then-Florida Secretary of Commerce Jeb Bush (later Governor of Florida himself), as vice-chairman. The commission was widely hailed as a leader in the arena of state-sponsored economic development initiatives in the aerospace industry, and led to the establishment of the Spaceport Florida Authority, following the release of its formal report, "Steps to the Stars" in 1988 (drafted under the direction of the Florida Department of Commerce's Dr. Chris Shove). While now defunct, the Florida Spaceport Authority did orchestrate several commercial launches from unused launch facilities at Cape Canaveral, Florida, including America's return to the Moon with an unmanned orbiting vehicle aboard a Lockheed Martin rocket, the Athena (then called the "Lockheed Launch Vehicle" or "LLV"). The Authority was succeeded by an organization known as "Space Florida." The purpose of the commission was to identify approaches and specific actions which the State might take to mitigate Florida's reliance on the Space Shuttle program as an employer in the space industry. Results were mixed, with some successes and a number of programs that bore little fruit.

In order to raise more revenue for the state, the

Florida legislature passed a sales tax on services with Martinez's support.[10] The response from Floridians was strongly negative, so only two months after the tax went into effect, Martinez called the legislature back for a special session to repeal it.[11] Though the tax was repealed[12] and replaced by a traditional sales tax on goods, the perceived flip-flop on the issue seriously hurt the governor's credibility among Floridians and reduced his ability to get his initiatives enacted.[10]

In 1989, Martinez vowed to "clear Death Row" and signed over 90 death warrants,

Banned in the USA, their follow-up album, 2 Live Crew included a song entitled "Fuck Martinez".[15]

In the fall of 1989, after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowed states greater flexibility to restrict abortions, Martinez promptly called the Florida Legislature into special session in an effort to pass anti-abortion laws. The special session was a debacle as none of the governor's proposals made it out of committee and his approval ratings sank to around 24%.

1990 election

In 1990,

United States Senator Lawton Chiles
. As of 2024, Martinez is the last Florida governor to lose reelection.

Post elected-office

After leaving the governor's office on January 8, 1991, Martinez was appointed by

Drug Czar
") where he served until January 20, 1993.

Since then, Martinez has served as a consultant to Florida-based businesses and law firms

Lowry Park Zoo
and the Tampa Bay History Center, all local nonprofit groups involved in some way with education.

Personal life

Bob Martinez married the former Mary Jane Marino in 1954, soon after they graduated from Tampa Jefferson High School. They have two children, Robert Alan Martinez and Sharon Martinez.[17]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Robert (Bob) Martinez". Archived from the original on September 6, 2004. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Tampa Mayor Bob Martinez on a Controversial Plateau". The Evening independent. August 13, 1983. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Robert (Bob) Martinez - 54th Mayor of Tampa". City of Tampa. June 17, 2014. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  4. ^ a b George, Ed (September 1, 1986). "New Party, New Fight for Bob Martinez". Ocala Star-Banner. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  5. ^ a b Pleasants, Julian (March 23, 1999). "Interview with Bob Martinez, 1999-03-23". original-ufdc.uflib.ufl.edu. pp. 10–13. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
  6. St. Petersburg Times
    . Retrieved on 2011-11-15.
  7. ^ "State: Once mighty teacher union's influence on wane". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved on 2011-11-15.
  8. ^ a b "Martinez Elected Mayor of Tampa". St. Petersburg Times. September 5, 1979.
  9. ^ Dunkelberger, Lloyd (November 26, 1985). "Martinez Makes Governor Bid". Ocala Star-Banner. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  10. ^ a b "State Income Tax: Why It Won't Happen In Florida". Archived from the original on June 27, 2009. Retrieved 2007-09-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). TBO.com. June 10, 2007
  11. ^ "Governor Acts to End Florida Tax". The New York Times. (1987-09-19). Retrieved on 2011-11-15.
  12. ^ "Tax Repeal Is Passed In Florida". The New York Times. (1987-12-10). Retrieved on 2011-11-15.
  13. ^ a b Lacayo, Richard; Beaty, Jonathan & Carney, Jay (April 2, 1990). "The Politics of Life and Death". Time. Retrieved November 15, 2011. Archived from the original on June 20, 2009.
  14. ^ "Obscenity or Art? Trial on Rap Lyrics Opens". The New York Times. (1990-10-17). Retrieved on 2011-11-15.
  15. Genius
    . Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  16. ^ Flsenate Archive: Welcome : Archived February 25, 2006, at the Wayback Machine. Flsenate.gov. Retrieved on 2011-11-15.
  17. ^ Crownover, Cathy (September 24, 1990). "Bob Martinez at a Glance". Ocala Star-Banner. Retrieved April 11, 2016.

External links

Political offices
Preceded by Mayor of Tampa
1979–1986 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Governor of Florida

1987–1991 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy
1991–1993 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by
Skip Bafalis
1990
 Succeeded by
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded byas Former US Senator Order of precedence of the United States
Within Florida 		Succeeded byas Former Governor
Preceded byas Former Governor Order of precedence of the United States
Outside Florida
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bob_Martinez&oldid=1216170330"