Never a dull moment this cycle.
Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) will be resigning from the Senate, according to several senior Republican sources familiar with his thinking.
He made the announcement at a morning staff meeting, where he said he will not be returning to the Senate after the August recess.
Martinez announced he wasn’t seeking re-election to the Senate last December, but he had insisted that he would be serving out the remainder of his term, which expires in 2011.
“This was a closely-held and guarded secret and came as a surprise to all of us,” said one senior Florida Republican operative.
Martinez has been rumored to be interested in the presidential opening at Florida State University, but had denied the speculation. The position just opened up in June, after university president T.K. Wetherell announced he was stepping down.
The seat will be filled by a gubernatorial appointment until next year's elections. And conveniently enough, Gov. Charlie Crist is running for Senate. Why not appoint himself and give himself a 1-year head-start of incumbency advantage?
National and Florida Republican sources say it's near-certain that Crist will not appoint himself, and instead is expected to appoint a placeholder to fill the seat through the 2010 election.
How would these sources know what Crist will do if Martinez just dropped this bombshell this morning? Still, staying put would make more sense -- serving in the Senate would pull him further away from home, making it harder to campaign and tainting him with the stench of DC. Furthermore, he already has the "incumbency advantage" by virtue of being governor, so he doesn't need an extra boost in name recognition,
On the other hand, the budget situation in Florida is dire, and it would be nice for him to punt those problems to someone else. He'll undoubtedly give serious consideration to appointing himself, even if he's not likely to do so in the end.
The biggest losers will likely be Democrats -- the most reasonable Republicans are retiring Republicans, and Martinez was getable on a number of important votes (like immigration reform). Now, Crist will likely have to appoint a raving wingnut to protect his right flank in his primary.