Popular Cuban-American Mayor To Challenge Diaz-Balart

Former Hialeah mayor Raul Martinez announced Tuesday that he would be challenging Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), setting up a high-profile matchup between two high-profile elected officials with close ties to South Florida’s Cuban-American community.

Martinez’s candidacy would be the first serious challenge Diaz-Balart has faced since he was first elected in 1992. With strong support from the Cuban-American community, Diaz-Balart has run unopposed five times in the general election, and has never won with less than 59 percent of the vote.

"I believe that we need a few less fiery speeches in Washington and more people who have a record of getting things done," said Martinez in his kickoff announcement. "As the strong Mayor of Florida’s fifth largest city, I feel that I have a track record of improving the everyday lives of people and a history of strong leadership and getting things accomplished."

Martinez, fueled by support from Cuban-American voters, has never lost an election, dating back to his tenure as a Hialeah city councilor.

But Republicans believe that Martinez is a flawed candidate because of his past legal troubles, and more recent intemperate comments he has made to the press.

Martinez was convicted over two decades ago on federal extortion charges regarding his dealings with developers, but successfully appealed. Two subsequent trials ended in hung juries.

He also created a bit of controversy last October after the state Republican party called him “a controversial fundraiser” for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) presidential bid.

“I would debate any f------ Republican about my past,'' Martinez said in a telephone interview with the Miami Herald in September. ``We'll have a debate mano a mano if they want to take me on. I'm going to take them on.''