Bob Martinez facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Bob Martinez
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| Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy | |
| In office March 28, 1991 – January 20, 1993 |
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| President | George H. W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Bill Bennett |
| Succeeded by | John Walters (acting) |
| 40th Governor of Florida | |
| In office January 6, 1987 – January 8, 1991 |
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| Lieutenant | Bobby Brantley |
| Preceded by | Wayne Mixson |
| Succeeded by | Lawton Chiles |
| 54th Mayor of Tampa | |
| In office October 1, 1979 – July 16, 1986 |
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| Preceded by | Bill Poe |
| Succeeded by | Sandra Freedman |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 25, 1934 Tampa, Florida, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic (before 1983) Republican (1983–present) |
| Spouse |
Mary Jane Marino
(m. 1954) |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | University of Tampa (BS) University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (MS) |
Robert "Bob" Martinez (born December 25, 1934) is an American politician who is now retired. He served as the 40th governor of Florida from 1987 to 1991. Martinez was a member of the Republican Party. He was the first person of Spanish background to be elected governor of Florida.
Martinez grew up in Tampa, Florida. He went to the University of Tampa. He started his career as a teacher in local public schools and later taught at the University of Tampa. In 1965, he became the leader of the local teachers' union. He held this job during the Florida statewide teachers' strike of 1968.
He first tried to become mayor of Tampa in 1974 but did not win. He won the next mayoral election in 1979 and was reelected in 1983. During his second term as mayor, Martinez changed his party from Democrat to Republican. This change surprised some of his supporters in Tampa, which was mostly Democratic. He left his job as mayor in 1986 to focus on his campaign for governor of Florida, which he won. His time as governor was talked about a lot because of a new state sales tax on services that was very unpopular and later removed. He lost his reelection campaign to U.S. Senator Lawton Chiles in 1990.
After being governor, Martinez was chosen by President George H. W. Bush to lead the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Martinez worked in this role from 1991 to 1993. After that, he went back to Tampa. He became a business advisor and joined the boards of several local education groups.
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Early Life and Education
Bob Martinez was born in Tampa, Florida, on December 25, 1934. He was the only child of Serafín and Ida Carreño Martínez. His grandparents were Spanish immigrants. They came to Tampa from Asturias to find work in the Ybor City neighborhood. This area was known for its Spanish, Cuban, and Italian communities.
Bob Martinez's mother worked as a seamstress. His father was a waiter at the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City. The family lived in Ybor City and West Tampa when he was young. Martinez finished high school at Jefferson High School in 1953. He earned a college degree from the University of Tampa in 1957.
For several years, he taught civics at local high schools. He taught at Oak Grove Junior High starting in 1957. He taught there for three and a half years.
He then went back to college. He earned a master's degree in how businesses and workers get along. He studied at the University of Illinois in 1964. After that, he returned to Tampa. He worked as a business and labor advisor. He also taught economics at the University of Tampa in the summer of 1965.
After graduating, he taught at Chamberlain High School for three and a half years. While teaching there, he became involved with the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association.
Leading Teachers' Union
In 1965, Martinez became the executive director of the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association (HCTA). This was the local teachers' union in Hillsborough County.
In 1968, the HCTA joined a Florida Education Association statewide teacher strike. Teachers went on strike to ask for more money for education. They also wanted the right for teachers to negotiate their contracts together. Even though the strike did not seem to work right away, its goals were met over the next few years. This happened through court decisions and new laws. In 1971, Martinez and the HCTA successfully negotiated the first union contract for teachers in Hillsborough County.
Political Career
In 1974, Martinez ran for mayor of Tampa. He lost to William "Bill" Poe. He left his job as the head of the HCTA in 1975. Florida Governor Reubin Askew then appointed him as vice-chairman of the Southwest Florida Water Management District. He also ran Cafe Sevilla, his family's restaurant in West Tampa.
Mayor of Tampa
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Martinez ran for mayor against Poe again in 1979 and won. During Martinez's time as mayor, the city built one of America's first plants that turns trash into energy. They also opened a large performing arts center and a modern convention center. The Lowry Park Zoo was completely rebuilt. The 1915 City Hall building was restored. The city also added thousands of acres of land northeast of town. This land later became the neighborhood of New Tampa.
The mayor's job is usually not tied to a political party. However, Martinez was known to be a Democrat. But in 1983, he changed his party to Republican. This happened after he met with Ronald Reagan when the president visited Tampa. This change upset some local supporters. It also made people wonder if he would run for a higher office. Martinez became more well-known across the country in 1984. He gave a speech at the Republican National Convention. In 1985, he was chosen to be on the board of directors for the National League of Cities.
Governor of Florida
1986 Election
In early 1985, Martinez started thinking about running for governor of Florida. He officially announced he would run in November of that year. In July 1986, he left his job as mayor of Tampa. This allowed him to spend all his time on the governor's campaign.
Martinez won against U.S. Representative Louis Frey Jr. in the Republican primary election. He then won against Democratic state representative Steve Pajcic in the 1986 Florida gubernatorial election. With this win, Martinez became the second Republican governor of Florida since the Reconstruction era. He was also the first Hispanic governor in Florida's history. He officially became governor on January 6, 1987.
Time as Governor
As governor, Martinez started America's largest program to buy land for environmental protection, called Preservation 2000. He suggested the Surface Water Improvement Management Act. This law helps protect Florida's surface waters. These include Lake Okeechobee, Tampa Bay, Lake Jackson, and the Kissimmee River. He helped pass Florida's first law about managing solid waste. He also put Florida's Growth Management Act into action. He supported laws that protected manatees and dolphins. He worked hard to stop wasteful spending projects in the legislature. For a while, Martinez was seen as a "rising star" in Republican politics.
In 1987, after the Space Shuttle Challenger accident, Martinez created the "Florida Governor's Commission on Space." This group included leaders from the aerospace industry. The commission looked for ways Florida could rely less on the Space Shuttle program for jobs. It led to the creation of the Spaceport Florida Authority. This authority helped launch commercial rockets from Cape Canaveral.
To get more money for the state, the Florida legislature passed a sales tax on services. Martinez supported this tax. But people in Florida did not like it at all. So, only two months after the tax started, Martinez asked the legislature to meet again to remove it. The tax was removed and replaced with a regular sales tax on goods. However, this change made many Floridians lose trust in the governor. It also made it harder for him to get his ideas passed.
1990 Election
In 1990, Time magazine called Martinez "embattled." He ran TV ads to talk about his achievements, but many of them were not popular. Martinez was not very popular even within his own party by the time of the 1990 Florida gubernatorial election. He lost by a large amount to the Democratic candidate, former United States Senator Lawton Chiles. As of 2025, Martinez is the last Florida governor to lose reelection.
After Being Governor
After leaving the governor's office on January 8, 1991, Martinez was chosen by President George H. W. Bush. He was appointed to a high-level job as Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, also known as "Drug Czar." He worked in this role until January 20, 1993.
Since then, Martinez has worked as an advisor for businesses and law firms in Florida. He also works as a political expert for Bay News 9 television. He is a trustee for the University of Tampa. He is also a director for the Hillsborough Education Foundation, Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo, and the Tampa Bay History Center. These are all local non-profit groups that help with education.
Personal Life
Bob Martinez married Mary Jane Marino in 1954. They got married soon after they both graduated from Tampa Jefferson High School. They have two children, Robert Alan Martinez and Sharon Martinez.
See also
- List of American politicians who switched parties in office
- List of minority governors and lieutenant governors in the United States
