Big news out of Florida, as the St. Pete Times is reporting that Republican Senator Mel Martinez will NOT run for re-election in Florida in 2010.
Story:
U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez plans a major announcement in Orlando shortly and a highly-placed Republican source says Martinez will announce that he's not seeking re-election and that he may leave his seat in advance of the end of his term in 2010. That would open the door for Gov. Charlie Crist to appoint a replacement in advance of a wide-open Senate race in '10.
In another development, Democratic Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink is expected to announce later Tuesday that she will seek re-election to her Cabinet post in 2010, forgoing a possible bid for either Martinez's Senate seat or governor.
Martinez is not popular in Florida, and his approval numbers are pretty bad:
His popularity is sagging due to his long-standing ties to President George W. Bush, his high-profile advocacy for immigration reform that alienated conservatives, and his tumultuous nine-month stint last year as chairman of the Republican National Committee, which did little to burnish his image, either within his own party or among independents and Democrats.
A November Quinnipiac poll showed a 38 percent plurality of Florida voters believe Martinez doesn’t deserve another term, while only 36 percent believe he should be reelected. Against an unnamed Democratic opponent, Martinez trails by 4 points, 40 percent to 36 percent.
His approval rating stood at only 42 percent — well below the 50 percent mark considered safe territory for incumbents.
"The reasons his negatives are so high is because his national profile is so political — he’s been head of [the] RNC and is seen as being very close to President Bush," said Florida Democratic pollster Dave Beatty. "Florida doesn’t like overly partisan people from either side, and he’s gotten the most coverage for his political position."
So Martinez may be seeing the writing on the wall, but what is surprising is that he may leave his seat in advance of the 2010 race. This would however allow Crist to appoint someone who could build up something of a resume in advance of the race. Still, this is big news!