Martinez Drawing an Opponent?

Moves being made to open up a state senate seat for soon to be former House Democratic leader Dan Gelber. Senator Gwen Margolis will not be running for re-election in 2008 and Rep. Gelber has already opened up a campaign account for a state senate campaign.

When legislation was passed allowing state electeds to run for federal office without giving up their state seat, our first thoughts went to what that meant for Congressman Bill Young, with particular attention to newly elected State Senator Charlie Justice's prospects - who had just won a strong victory despite being heavily outspent, both by his opponent and by outside groups (mainly funded by insurance companies) supporting his opponent.

I did not look at how the new rules would affect Mel Martinez - our unpopular junior Senator and chair of the RNC.

But it does appear that this puts Gelber, a strong fundraiser, in the cat bird's seat in 2010. As a state senator who would not be up for re-election until 2012, he could run without sacrificing his soon to be current post - unlike CFO Alex Sink, who might prefer to wait until 2014 and run for Governor.