page_title: Bob Martinez
section_title: Personal life
hierarchical_section_title: Bob Martinez / Personal life
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait of Florida Governor Bob Martinez and his family on inauguration day.
context_page_description: Robert Martinez is a retired American politician who was the first person of Spanish descent to be elected to the office of Governor of Florida. He was the state's 40th governor and held the office from 1987 to 1991.
  Martinez was born and raised in Tampa, Florida, attended the University of Tampa, and began his career as an educator in the local public school system and then the University of Tampa. In 1965, he was named the director of the local teacher's union, a position he held during the Florida statewide teachers' strike of 1968. He first entered politics with an unsuccessful run for mayor of Tampa in 1974, then won the office in Tampa's next mayoral election in 1979 and was reelected in 1983. During his second term as mayor, Martinez switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican, upsetting some supporters in heavily Democratic Tampa. He resigned the position in 1986 to focus on his ultimately successful campaign for the governorship of Florida.
context_section_description: Bob Martinez married the former Mary Jane Marino in 1954, soon after they graduated from Tampa Jefferson High School. They have two children, Robert Alan Martinez and Sharon Martinez.
caption: Bob Martinez and his family on his inauguration day as Governor, in January 1987.
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