Senate Majority Leader Alex Diaz de la Portilla, term-limited out of office this year, is considering a run for Congress.

U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart said today that he will not seek re-election this year. His brother Mario, a U.S. Representative from a neighboring district, plans to run for Lincoln’s seat.

That opens up Mario Diaz-Balart’s seat, which he won with just 52 percent in his last election against Democrat Joe Garcia.

Diaz de la Portilla says he’ll be the frontrunner in that race the day he enters and he’s already calling potential contributors who he said are ready to back him.

“I’ve got a proven track record as actually making good policy not just political hack work like others have,” Diaz de la Portilla said today. “As majority leader, I’ve proven my ability to reach across the aisle and deal with many, many democrats.”

DLP’s older brother Miguel is running to replace him in the state Senate and their younger brother Renier sits on the Miami-Dade County School Board.

DLP has served in the state legislature for 16 years, starting as a state representative in 1994.

“I have had the honor and privilege of serving my community as a state
senator and I am seriously considering the opportunity to continue to
fight for the people of Florida on a national level in the United
State Congress. I will make my final decision soon after thoughtful
and deliberate consideration,” Diaz de la Portilla, R-Miami, said in a statement.

Gov. Charlie Crist is meeting with former chief of staff George LeMieux today as he ponders his replacement for U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez who resigned from office earlier this month.

The hastily-added meeting with LeMieux, a close ally who headed Crist’s gubernatorial campaigns and is now the chairman of the largest law firm in the state, raises speculation about whether the governor will tap LeMieux to fill in for Martinez for the remainder of his term.

Crist is seeking the office himself, running against former House Speaker Marco Rubio in a GOP primary next year.

Last week, Crist asked for applications for the temporary post from U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, former attorney general and secretary of state Jim Smith and former U.S. Atttorney Bobby Martinez. Diaz-Balart dropped out of consideration late Monday.

Crist met with Martinez yesterday before hurriedly asking state Rep. Jennifer Carroll, a Republican from Jacksonville and the only black Republican in the legislature, and University of North Florida President John Delaney. He visited with the Jacksonville pair in their hometown yesterday as well.

Gov. Charlie Crist added two names to the list of candidates he’s interviewing to replace U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez: state Rep. Jennifer Carroll and University of North Florida President John Delaney, both of Jacksonville.

Carroll is the only black Republican serving in the state legislature. Delaney was formerly the mayor of Jacksonville and a long-time Crist supporter.

Crist plans to interview both tomorrow in Jacksonville. Neither was among possible candidates speculated on by political insiders around the state.

Crist today met with Bobby Martinez, a Miami lawyer who oversaw his transition when the governor took office in 2007 and a former U.S. prosecutor.

The governor, who is running in a GOP primary next year against former House Speaker Marco Rubio to take the seat himself, must appoint someone to fulfill the remainder of Martinez’ term, which ends in January 2012.

Crist also asked U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Jim Smith, a former state attorney general and secretary of state who is now a lobbyist, to apply for the post. Diaz-Balart pulled out yesterday and a visit with Smith has yet to be scheduled.

U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart withdrew his name for consideration to replace U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez this evening.

Diaz-Balart issued a statement this evening saying he told Gov. Charlie Crist to remove him from the short list of three to fill in for Martinez until next year’s November election.

“I have informed Governor Charlie Crist this evening that I will not be submitting the Questionnaire for appointment to the Senate he kindly asked me to consider submitting. It was a great honor to be considered by Governor Crist for appointment to the United States Senate. I thank him for his kind gesture of confidence. After giving the Governor’s request serious consideration and deliberation, I have decided to remain in the U.S. House of Representatives fighting for the causes which I deeply believe in,”‬‪‬‪‬‪ the statement reads.

That leaves Tallahassee lobbyist Jim Smith, a Democrat-turned Republican who served on the Florida Cabinet as both Attorney General and Secretary of State, and former U.S. prosecutor Bobby Martinez.

Crist is scheduled to meet with Martinez tomorrow at the Miami airport at 1 p.m.

Crist is leaving office after one term to run for the seat and is being challenged in a GOP primary by former House Speaker Marco Rubio.

This story was updated from the original blog item. It appeared in print Aug. 15 on page 2A of The Palm Beach Post.

From left to right: Diaz-Balart, Martinez, Smith

By MICHAEL C. BENDER and DARA KAM
Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau

TALLAHASSEE — Offering the first hints of who might eventually win his U.S. Senate appointment, Gov. Charlie Crist requested applications Friday from three Republicans: two Miami Hispanics and a Tallahassee lobbyist with a long history in Florida politics.

The first of possibly seven application forms were sent to U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart and former U.S. Attorney Bobby Martinez, both Cuban-Americans. Jim Smith, a former secretary of state and Florida attorney general who also waged campaigns for governor and agriculture commissioner, was the third to receive an application form.

See the questionnaire here.

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