WASHINGTON – Almost two years before the next election, Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), a member of the Banking Committee, announced today he won't seek reelection.
Martinez, who received $5,000 from CUNA's political action committee this year and $1,000 from NAFCU's, is the first of the 33 Senators up for reelection to announce that he or she is not running again. He is serving his first term in the Senate. Before that he was secretary of housing and urban affairs in President Bush's term and was mayor or Orange County, Florida.
"The next eight years would have been two of candidacy and six of serving-I just wanted to go a different direction with my life," Martinez said in a statement.
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His decision will set the stage for a competitive election in a state in which both parties are strong. President-elect Barack Obama carried Florida in last month's election. The state has a Republican governor and both a Democratic and Republican U.S. Senator.
There are 33 senators up in 2010 and there will be special elections for those appointed to the Senate to succeed those who have resigned to serve in the Obama administration.
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