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First Lady Of Florida: 'What A Life'

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By GARY R. MORMINO

Tribune correspondent

Published: February 22, 2009

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second in a two-part series about former Tampa and Florida first lady Mary Jane Martinez.

In the spring of 1983, President Ronald Reagan invited Bob and Mary Jane Martinez to the White House. The mayor and first lady of Tampa were little known outside the region, but a Reagan-led Republican revolution was sweeping the land and was about to bring the Martinezes and the state of Florida into its vortex.

Prominent Tampa Republicans, most notably attorney J. Clint Brown and developer Al Austin, had aggressively courted Mayor Martinez. But before the 1980s, the Republican Party in Florida was moribund. Hillsborough County leaned heavily Democratic, but the fast-growing county added new Republican voters daily, while the city's Democratic base was stagnant.

Joining The Republican Ranks

"So we went to Washington," Mary Jane recalled, her husband interjecting, "We paid our own way!"

Once in the capital, "we were escorted to the Oval Office," Bob reminisced. "Vice President (George H.W.) Bush was there. President Reagan had been well briefed."

Reagan had an earnest conversation with the mayor of Tampa. "Bobby, you're a lot like me. We were union leaders. I was once a Democrat. You were head of a teachers union. ... We sure would love for you to become a Republican."

Impressed with Reagan's sincerity and sensing a tidal change in state and local politics, the Martinezes reflected the inclinations of millions of Americans who switched parties. Once the home of Yellow Dog Democrats - Florida crackers and city folks who hated Republicans so much they would sooner vote for a yellow dog than a candidate representing the Party of Lincoln - Florida was now ZIP code to growing numbers of Blue Dog Democrats, voters who felt so squeezed by the growing power of the federal government and minorities demanding rights that they had turned blue and voted red.

'Martinez Carried The Day!'

Amid such change, Bob and Mary Jane discussed his post-mayoral career. They could return to running Cafe Sevilla. Or he could run for governor.

When asked the probability of a Republican Catholic Hispanic winning the gubernatorial election of 1986, Bob said simply, "It was a really long shot." Since 1876, Florida had elected only one Republican governor, Claude Kirk in 1966.

Mary Jane resigned after working two decades as librarian at King High School. Her new career included the high-intensity stare of the media. "Frankly, I enjoyed it," she confessed. "We worked the crowd separately."

The Democratic Party was imploding in 1986. Jacksonville attorney and state legislator Steve Pajic survived a brutal Democratic primary to become his party's gubernatorial nominee. He was painted as an Ivy League liberal. Pajic's candidacy was not helped when Republican ads featured the Democratic candidate wearing a geeky bow tie.

Martinez triumphed in the November elections, winning nearly 55 percent of the vote. Revealingly, the Catholic Hispanic from Tampa polled well in North Florida, where Democrats had once dominated. In the new governor's words, "'Bubba' Martinez carried the day!" His mother and father attended his inauguration on Jan. 6, 1987.

'I Worked Hard To Get Involved'

Mary Jane was warned by many friends, "Tallahassee - it's just like Georgia!" But she was determined to adapt to North Florida ways and champion her causes.

"I worked hard to get involved with the community," she remembered. "When I arrived, the city of Tallahassee had no real library, so I got involved in that." She also worked closely with the Women's Republican Club, "my right hand."

She tackled other causes, helping lobby for increased funding for runaway shelters and libraries. She became interested in the governor's involvement with environmental issues, especially Preservation 2000, now known as Florida Forever. Mary Jane's legacy also includes raising $400,000 to preserve the governor's mansion. Her signature touch included the addition of a brick patio and fountain.

Mary Jane developed an especially close relationship with her new Tallahassee neighbor, former first lady Mary Call Collins, the wife of former Gov. LeRoy Collins. "I loved her," she recalls. Mary Call Collins is approaching her 100th birthday, making her Florida's longest living first lady.

Mascotte Bounds Onto The Scene

The governor and first lady brought a touch of home to Tallahassee - their beloved Basset hound Mascotte. The name figures prominently in Tampa history. Henry B. Plant named one of his steamboats The Mascotte after an 1880 French opera of the same name. In the 1890s, the vessel saved Tampa's cigar industry with a timely shipment of tobacco smuggled from war-ravaged Cuba. Observant readers will identify The Mascotte on Tampa's city seal.

For Bob Martinez, The Mascotte was even more personal. His grandmother came to Tampa aboard that very steamer.

The hound played a leading role in one of the more interesting events in the history of the governor's mansion. In the late 1980s, President George H.W. and Barbara Bush visited Florida's first family. Bob and Mary Jane Martinez stood in line for the state visit. When the Secret Service opened the door to the president's limousine, the affectionate Mascotte leaped into the car.

While the families engaged in conversation, the governor's staff prepared an elegant table. Mary Jane gasped moments later when Mascotte appeared, happily munching on a bean sprouts sandwich. The Secret Service ordered all of the food to be confiscated and destroyed.

Back To Tampa, Via Washington, D.C.

In 1991, Bush appointed Martinez director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, a job more popularly known as "drug czar."

When asked what her happiest memories of the Tallahassee years were, Mary Jane replied, "What a life, to come from a working-class family, and be able to become a school teacher and then serve as first lady of Florida."

Her saddest moment: "When I had to leave. I had developed a great relationship with a good group of friends. ... I also loved greeting school buses bringing schoolchildren to the governor's mansion."

Bob and Mary Jane Martinez returned to Tampa in 1993. Mary Jane remains the only woman to serve as first lady of both Tampa and Florida.

Sept. 10, 2001

In 2001, the couple attended a historic dinner. President George W. Bush and his brother, Jeb, at that time the governor of Florida, were in Sarasota and hosted a small party at the Colony Restaurant. As Mary Jane was leaving the restaurant, she asked the president and governor to sign the menu. The page they signed included a handwritten date: 9/10/2001. The next morning, President Bush was reading to a group of Sarasota schoolchildren when an aide whispered in his ear that the World Trade Center had been attacked.

Gary R. Mormino is co-director of the Florida Studies Program at USF St. Petersburg. He invites your letters and stories. Reach him by e-mail at gmormino@stpt.usf.edu or in care of the Florida Studies Program, Snell House, 140 Seventh Ave. S., St. Petersburg FL 33701.

CORRECTION: In my Feb. 8 column, I wrote that the late J. Clint Brown had first counseled Bob Martinez to consider running for mayor. In researching my notes, I now realize that it should have read that after a late dinner, J. Clint Brown counseled Martinez. My apologies to the very alive attorney. No one is happier to hear the news than Mr. Brown!

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