His ascension from a homeless Cuban teenager with no money or English language skills to a member of Pres. George W. Bush's cabinet makes for a compelling tale on the campaign stump.

It is also the kind of positive theme the former housing secretary hopes to focus on after an acrimonious Senate primary, which ended with Martinez's narrow victory over former U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum in early September.

In 1962, at age 15, Martinez was plucked from Cuba by the Catholic Church's "Pedro Pan" program, which relocated children from the communist island to the United States. Pedro Pan was a response to Cuba's communist education and labor program aimed at creating what Fidel Castro called the "new man" -- one who would put the welfare of the revolution and the state before all else.

The Pedro Pan program, which ran from 1960 to 1962, placed an estimated 14,000 Cuban children with American foster families while working to get visas for their parents.

Martinez and a planeload of other children said a tearful goodbye to their parents at Havana's airport in 1962.

"We were scared to death,'' he told the Tampa Tribune in August 2004. "I can't tell you the despair, the deep loneliness of that moment.''

Martinez's campaign Web site says he arrived in the United States "with only one suitcase, the clothes on his back and an enduring love of the game of baseball."

The Cuban teenager lived first at orphanage camps and then with two foster families for four years before a happy reunion with his parents in Orlando in 1966.

The young Martinez thrived in the United States. He learned English while attending Bishop Moore High School in Orlando. He then enrolled in Florida State University, earning bachelors and law degrees.

Martinez also met his wife Kitty at FSU. The couple has been married for 33 years and has three children and two grandchildren.

Between his undergraduate and law school years Martinez worked for then Florida Secretary of State Tom Adams, getting his first taste of politics and public service.

Shortly after graduation from law school Martinez went to work for a prominent Orlando law firm and became involved in community affairs, eventually serving as chairman of the local housing authority, chairman of the utilities commission, vice chairman of Catholic Charities, and a little league baseball coach.

A registered Democrat at while in college, Martinez switched parties in 1980 and voted for Ronald Reagan.

As an attorney Martinez tried a number of personal injury cases, and became known as an advocate for Spanish-speaking immigrants. In 1988 he became president of the Florida Academy of Trial Lawyers -- service that is absent from his official HUD and campaign biographies.

Martinez's former boss, President Bush, has been a vocal critic of trial lawyers, who he believes are partly responsible for driving up the cost of insurance for doctors by winning exorbitant jury awards in medical malpractice cases. Mr. Bush has called for limiting the amount of damages juries can reward in order to make doctors' insurance more affordable, which he says will in turn make medical care less expensive.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., has said he wants to limit "meritless" lawsuits but opposes limiting jury awards. Kerry's running mate, Sen. John Edwards, made millions as a trial lawyer in North Carolina.

During the Senate primary, McCollum called Martinez the "John Edwards of Florida" and a "liberal trial lawyer."

As he did throughout the race, Republican Gov. Jeb Bush stepped into the fray seeking to make peace between the two candidates by praising both for having impeccable records as conservatives.

While working as an attorney Martinez kept a hand in local and state Republican politics. In 1996 he served as presidential candidate Bob Dole's Florida campaign chairman.

In 1998 Martinez was elected chairman of Orange County, a position whose title belies its nature as a mayoral position.

As chairman of Orange County, Martinez became known as an effective executive and a moderate politician. Generally considered pro-business, Martinez took a controversial stand against any growth that would overburden the county's already crowded schools. That position led to a legal face-off with developers, which the county won.

After the dispute Governor Bush named Martinez to the statewide Governor's Growth Management Study Commission.

In 2000 Martinez served as George W. Bush's Florida campaign co-chairman, a delegate to the Republican National Convention, and a Bush presidential elector.

Martinez's experience and support for both Bush brothers paid off in 2001 when the new President Bush tapped Martinez to head the department of Housing and Urban Development.

Martinez's campaign Web sites says his accomplishments as HUD secretary include eliminating fraud, waste and abuse; promoting President Bush's economic growth plan; and leading HUD to embrace the president's faith-based initiatives. Martinez also has taken credit for boosting home ownership numbers, especially among minorities.

Critics of Martinez's HUD tenure have said he allowed himself and his story to be used as a political prop for the president and that he didn't follow through on new programs or reforms.

In 2003 Martinez resigned his cabinet post to become a Senate candidate in Florida. Martinez was widely considered the White House's pick in the primary race over McCollum and other GOP hopefuls.

Some political observers thought McCollum might be too conservative to win moderate Democratic Sen. Bob Graham's seat. Graham had announced his retirement before a failed presidential primary bid.

McCollum, however, had the backing of the state's staunch conservatives and led Martinez for much of the race. Martinez closed the gap in the final weeks, when the contest turned into a battle over who was most conservative.

Toward the end of the race, the Martinez campaign sent mailers and ran television ads that accused McCollum of supporting stem cell research and gay marriage, unpopular issues with conservatives.

The campaign ads said McCollum was " the new darling of the homosexual extremists" and "anti-family."

Martinez won the race 45 percent to 31 percent, but critics and friends say the negative ads may have done damage to his prospects for the general election.

Governor Bush stepped into the fray in the final days of the campaign, successfully pressuring Martinez to pull the plug on the gay marriage ads. The St. Petersburg Times editorial board also took the unusual step of rescinding its endorsement in response to the ads.

For his part, McCollum has said he could not endorse Martinez but urged Republicans to unite for the good of the party.

Florida Democratic Party Chairman Scott Maddox said Martinez's attack on McCollum over gay rights issues represented a radical shift to the right, which would hurt the Republican nominee in the general election because Floridians have historically elected moderate candidates.

Since the end of the primary Martinez has expressed regret over the ads and worked to unite the divided state party.

"I want to reach out to all Republicans in Florida to make sure we're a unified party that we're moving forward in a strong and powerful way to win this Senate seat," Martinez said in a speech to the Florida delegation at the Republican National Convention in early September.

Martinez later added that, for the most part, his campaign was a positive one, a tone he said he will carry into the general election.

"I took a lot of shots and we dished out a couple," Martinez said. "We're going to move forward in a very positive way -- that's the way this campaign is going to be run, it's going to be about the issues; it's going to be a high-brow affair."

Martinez also has said use of the negative ads may have been a mistake.

"If I could take back those two days of what was until then a very positive campaign on our part -- while enduring incredible abuse, I might add -- I would," he told Orlando Sentinel columnist Myriam Marquez.

Martinez told Marquez he had left decisions on ads to others in the final days of the campaign.

"This was my first statewide race [for Senate]; there was a lot of pressure," he said. "I learned some things. It was absolutely my responsibility."

Martinez has said he will make amends with McCollum and will run a positive campaign in the general election.