The move presents Gov. Charlie Crist with the challenge of selecting a solid replacement
- almost certainly a fellow Republican - but somebody who will agree not to run for a full term in 2010 so Crist himself can win the seat.
Martinez, the only Hispanic Republican in the Senate, said he would serve until his replacement was named. Crist promised to try to make his selection before the Senate returns from its summer break after Labor Day.
Crist quickly said he would not install himself as the incumbent leading up to the GOP primary. The governor, who has earned a reputation for having a strong political antenna, will want to make his pick appear as one that won't look like it's clearing the path for his election next year.
"The best way to make it easy for him would be to do the right thing and that is pick a well qualified person to do the job," said former state GOP party boss Van Poole. "And I think that's what he's going to do."
University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato said the appointment is an opportunity for the Florida governor
- one way or another.
"This is a great opportunity, but you can blow an opportunity," Sabato said. "The worst thing he could do was to appoint a flunky or himself."
With the GOP struggling for relevance in the Democratic-controlled Congress, Mel Martinez is the third prominent Republican in recent days to announce an early resignation. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said in late July she would step down this fall to challenge fellow Republican Rick Perry for governor of Texas. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin stepped down July 26.
Martinez, 62, had already announced he wouldn't seek re-election. He said Friday that the next phase of his life will be in the private sector, but he didn't have any specific plans.
"There's no impending reason, it's just my desire to move on," he said.
Martinez, known as a voice on immigration and issues involving Cuba, crossed party lines Thursday to vote in favor of Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to become the first Hispanic on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Because Crist is expected to tap a Republican replacement, Martinez's resignation will have no immediate effect on the balance of power in the Senate, where Democrats control the 60 seats needed to overcome Republican filibusters.
Much of the talk about whom Crist would nominate centered on former Florida Secretary of State Jim Smith, 69, who told The Associated Press on Friday that he would love to have the job for a little while.
"I'd go tomorrow," Smith said from Colorado Springs where he and his wife, Carole, were vacationing. "It would be a great way to end a public career."
Also apparently in the mix is former Gov. Bob Martinez, 71, though he said he has not talked with Crist or Mel Martinez, with whom he is not related.
