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NEWS
Mel Martinez to become first Cuban-American in US Senate
Wed Nov 3,12:15 PM ET Politics -
AFP
MIAMI (AFP) - Former Republican cabinet member Mel Martinez was set to
become the first Cuban-American in the US Senate, after his Democratic
rival, Betty Castor, a former top state education official, conceded
defeat.
Castor, who trailed Martinez by just about one percentage point,
initially rejected Martinez's claim to victory but eventually conceded,
local television reported.
Martinez, 58, who came to the United States at the age of 15 as part of
a church operation to help children leave communist Cuba, had spent much
time campaigning with President George W. Bush , who also won Florida.
The race to replace retiring Democratic Senator Bob Graham had been
marked by bitter personal attacks on issues such as the Iraq war,
terrorism and taxes.
"If Betty Castor had her way, Saddam Hussein would still be butchering
the people of Iraq," Martinez, Bush's former secretary of housing and
urban development (HUD), said at a recent rally.
One of his campaign ads accused Castor of being soft on terror for
allowing a man investigated for terrorism links to teach at the
University of South Florida while she was president there.
Castor, 63, fought back with a picture of Martinez next to one that
showed Bush together with the suspect during the 2000 presidential
campaign.
Sami Al-Arian has since been indicted for allegedly helping to raise
funds for the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad.
The Democratic candidate linked her rival's three-year stint as a
cabinet member with lucrative private-sector jobs he later received from
companies that may have benefited from regulatory decisions he made
while in government.
"I think he benefited in a private capacity from his services at HUD,"
Castor told reporters.
The Martinez campaign dismissed the claim as "playground insults."
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