Matthew Martínez, whose career took him from
East Los Angeles to Washington, won a special
election to the U.S. House and later unseated
a longtime incumbent, serving a total of 10 terms in
Congress. Along the way, Martínez worked to address the
education and labor concerns of his working-class district.
“You know, a poor little ghetto kid from East Los Angeles
standing in the hallowed halls of Congress—that’s got to
be the American Dream,” Martínez said shortly after he
was elected to the U.S. House.1
One of nine children born to Matthew and Helen
Martínez, Matthew Gilbert (Marty) Martínez was born
February 14, 1929, in Walsenburg, Colorado. His father
was a Texas-born coal miner of Mexican heritage. The
family moved to East Los Angeles when Martínez was
a year old.2 He attended local public schools and later
told the New York Times he left home at age 12 because
his mother beat him. “I ran away from home, hid out,
bummed off friends, stole milk and bread, and learned
how to survive,” he said.3 An older brother took him in
and convinced him to return to school, and Martínez
eventually graduated from Los Angeles’ Roosevelt High
School. From 1947 to 1950, he served in the U.S. Marine
Corps, attaining the rank of private first class. In 1956,
using the GI Bill to study business, he earned a certificate
of competence from the Los Angeles Trade Technical
School. Martínez married Elvira Yorba, and they raised
five children: Matthew, Diane, Susan, Michael, and Carol
Ann.4 He opened a furniture upholstery shop in the 1950s,
moving the business from Hollywood to Monterey Park
in the Eastern Los Angeles suburbs. He also worked as a
building contractor. Later, Martínez and his wife separated
for many years, divorcing in the early 2000s. Martínez
subsequently married Maxine Grant.5
Martínez’s political career began at a Los Angeles hamburger stand, where he gathered with neighbors to
discuss issues affecting Monterey Park. He was a member
of the local Rotary Club, and during his years as a business
owner he switched his political affiliation from Democratic
to Republican. From 1971 to 1974, he served on the
Monterey Park planning committee and embarked on
a career in elective politics. Martínez changed his affiliation
back to the Democratic Party shortly after winning a
seat on the Monterey Park city council. He served on the
council for six consecutive years, two of them (1974–1975)
as mayor of Monterey Park. In 1977 he was appointed to
the California Solid Waste Management Board.
In 1980 Martínez launched an uphill campaign against
well-regarded California assemblyman Jack Fenton, an
incumbent Democrat who represented a swath of suburbs
east of Los Angeles for nearly two decades. Martínez,
who maintained that Fenton had failed to keep in touch
with the changing district, received an unexpected
boost weeks before the Democratic primary; California
Assemblyman Howard L. Berman of Los Angeles threw
his support behind Martínez in a campaign blitz that
propelled him to victory.6 In the general election,
Martínez prevailed with 72 percent of the vote in the
heavily Democratic district.7
If Los Angeles’ political machine propelled him into
office, Martínez’s decision to work with local Hispanic-American activists kept him there. He regained his
proficiency in Spanish, which he had spoken as a child
but abandoned because the Los Angeles public schools
discouraged bilingualism.8 At times Martínez was
impatient with activists who worked outside the established
political system. As a freshman state assemblyman,
for instance, he assailed Californios for Fair
Representation—a group of younger Latino activists
pushing to create majority-Hispanic districts—for “a total lack of sophistication” after they walked out of a
reapportionment hearing in Sacramento.9
During his brief stint in the California assembly,
Martínez compiled a notable record, serving on the
agriculture and local government committees. He authored
bills to promote safeguards for oil recycling and pharmacy
prescriptions; both were signed into law. He also helped
push through a measure reinvigorating a plan for the
long-stalled completion of the Long Beach Freeway and
promoted measures to curb gang violence.10
In 1982, when six-term Democratic incumbent U.S.
Representative George E. Danielson resigned after being
appointed to a state appellate court, Martínez declared
his candidacy for the seat. Danielson, who had served
five years as Deputy Majority Whip in the U.S. House,
represented a district that overlapped a large section of
Martínez’s assembly district. Meanwhile, a redistricting
plan backed by the leader of California’s delegation in the
U.S. House, Phil Burton of San Francisco, had created
two new districts east of Los Angeles—California’s 30th
and 34th Districts—with the intention of getting more
Hispanics elected to Congress. The new 30th District ran
from the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in its
far northeastern corner, swept southwestward along the
valley east of Los Angeles, and enveloped towns including
Alhambra, Montebello, Monterey Park, Bell Gardens, and El
Monte. Some 54 percent of the population was of Hispanic
descent, and the district had a healthy ratio of registered
Democrats (nearly two to one). With his wide name
recognition, Martínez enjoyed the support of many of the
state’s leading Hispanic politicians and civic organizations.11
Martínez faced an onslaught of opponents in the June
8 Democratic primary to decide the candidate for both the
special election to fill the rest of Danielson’s term as well as
for the 1982 general election. Although former Danielson
aide Dennis S. Kazarian came within roughly 400 votes
of defeating him in the primary, Martínez prevailed
before facing Republican lawyer Ralph R. Ramirez in the
special election, which would be based on the old district
boundaries. With the low voter turnout typical of special
elections, Martínez repelled Ramirez’s challenge by a margin of less than 1,000 votes—winning 51 to 49 percent
in the July 13 contest. He was sworn in as a Member of
the 97th Congress (1981–1983) on July 15, 1982, and was
assigned to the Veterans’ Affairs and the Education and
Labor Committees.12
The redistricting plan that gave Martínez a seat in the
97th Congress ensured that he would have a difficult time
returning in the 98th Congress (1983–1985). Part of
Burton’s plan to boost the number of Latino candidates
for Congress involved disassembling the district of his
longtime political foe Republican Representative John H. Rousselot, a one-time John Birch Society member and an
eight-term House veteran. With his old district redrawn,
Rousselot was faced with taking on a friend and fellow
Republican in a neighboring district or challenging the upand-
coming Martínez.13 Minutes after Martínez was sworn
into the House on July 15, 1982, Rousselot challenged
him to a series of 16 debates in the major towns in the new
district. Martínez demurred, saying, “Rousselot’s whole
tactic is to bulldoze somebody and buffalo them, and he
started in right away. I’ve got a surprise for him. He’s going
to know what it’s like to be bowled over.”14
Martínez was a formidable opponent, strolling through
the precincts handing out campaign literature while
portraying Rousselot as a carpetbagger who was unfamiliar
with most of the district. Martínez was “rough around the
edges” in the words of a Democratic activist, occasionally
offering blunt assessments that his campaign staff scrambled
to qualify.15 But while Rousselot emphasized his experience
and his service to the district’s many Hispanic voters—
being photographed with Los Angeles Dodgers ace
pitcher Fernando Valenzuela and spending campaign
funds for Spanish lessons—Martínez played down ethnic
politics. “I’m not a Hispanic candidate,” he said. “I’m an
American candidate.”16
To match Rousselot’s spending during the campaign,
Martínez again secured the backing of California’s
Democratic machine alongside party superstars like
Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts.17 The race
centered on Social Security reform, and Martínez attacked
Rousselot for advocating cost-cutting measures during a weak economy. The high unemployment rate early in the
Ronald W. Reagan administration made Rousselot’s task
even more difficult. Martínez prevailed 54 to 46 percent on
Election Day as California Democrats picked up six new
seats; overall, Democrats added 27 seats to their already
solid House majority. In the 1984 primary, Martínez beat
back a challenge by Gladys C. Danielson—the wife of
the previous Representative of the 30th District—and
defeated Republican Richard Gomez, 52 to 43 percent,
with a third-party candidate taking the remaining 5 percent
of the vote. In subsequent general elections he won by
approximately 60 percentage points.18
Martínez left the Veterans’ Affairs Committee after
one term but retained his post on the Education and
Labor Committee for his entire House career. He served
as chairman of its Subcommittee on Employment
Opportunities from the 99th through the 101st Congresses
(1985–1991). He served as chairman of the Human
Resources Subcommittee for the 102nd and 103rd Congresses (1991–1995) until Republicans gained the
majority after the 1994 elections. He also served at various
times on the Committees on Small Business, Government
Operations, Foreign Affairs, and Transportation and
Infrastructure as well as on the Select Committee on
Children, Youth and Families. Additionally, he joined the
Congressional Hispanic Caucus and served as its chairman
for a portion of the 99th Congress (1985–1987).19
Throughout his career, Martínez was a strong advocate
of the nation’s public schools. In 1987 he strenuously
opposed a proposal to divert funds for bilingual education
to other programs for non–native English speakers, such as
immersion. “You shouldn’t dilute the bilingual education
budget for what should be another federal program,” he
insisted.20 “I am an immersion product. Fifty percent of
students who started with me failed by the time they were in
ninth or tenth grade.”21 Martínez was among the minority
opposition to a 1997 effort by Republicans to authorize
tuition vouchers to help low-income parents send their
children to private schools. “Just like we abandoned the poor
parts of our cities … this bill will leave our public schools
in ruin in search of a panacea for just a few,” he declared.22
Martínez also advocated for America’s working class.
In the 99th and 100th Congresses, he drafted legislation
that prohibited private employers from making lie detector
tests a condition for employment. Calling this practice
“voodoo craft,” Martínez claimed lie detectors had become
“judge and jury and God in determining workers’ fate.”23
The measure became law in 1988. Martínez also opposed
a proposal to permit a subminimum training wage for
minority groups and youth, characterizing this as “a way
to get around paying the minimum wage to minorities
and those who are at the very bottom of the employment
ladder.”24 After the Republicans gained the House majority
in 1995, he argued for a 90 cent increase in the minimum
wage and opposed legislation that would have allowed
businesses to save money by offering compensatory time
instead of overtime pay.25
He also opposed the Teamwork for Employees and
Managers (TEAM) Act because of a provision that would
have undercut the power of labor unions, and his concern
for the American worker led him to vote against the
passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) in 1993.26 Martínez asserted, “Free trade is
the best course for America as we try to maintain our
economic leadership,” but he refused to support NAFTA
because he believed it lacked provisions to retain American
jobs and protect American workers.27 Martínez was one
of 21 Representatives from the California congressional
delegation to vote against the measure.
Martínez championed several significant pieces
of legislation in the early 1990s. He sponsored the
reauthorization of the Older Americans Act (first passed
in 1965) in the 102nd Congress, including sustained
funding for Meals on Wheels and the Administration
on Aging, which implemented the act’s programs.28 In
the 103rd Congress, he served as floor manager for the
passage of H.R. 5194, to reauthorize the Juvenile Justice
and Delinquency Prevention Act (first passed in 1974).
The bill also created new programs for gang intervention
and established the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act,
which provided temporary shelter, support services, and
counseling for “those young people, who have been cast off in a sea of distrust and exploitation.”29 He was the
prime sponsor of the National Community Service Act
(P.L. 103-82)—a priority of the William J. (Bill) Clinton
administration—which offered educational incentives for
community service and created AmeriCorps, a network
of service-oriented programs modeled on the Civilian
Conservation Corps of Martínez’s youth.30 “This [program
provides] the opportunity for young people to earn
and learn—to develop a sense of community and have
confidence in themselves and others,” he said.31 Though
pared down from the original version, the bill was signed
into law by President Clinton on September 21, 1993.32
Usually a reliable liberal vote on economic and social
issues, Martínez diverged from his party in several key
areas. A supporter of abortion rights, he advocated allowing
privately funded abortions at overseas military hospitals and
allowing federal employee health plans to pay for abortions.
He also supported requiring states to fund abortions
through Medicaid for victims of rape or incest or to save a
woman’s life.33 However, he supported a ban on “partialbirth”
abortion and was one of 70 Democrats to vote to
override Clinton’s veto of the legislation. As a member of
the National Rifle Association, he opposed passage of the
Brady Bill—which required a five-day waiting period before
the purchase of a handgun—but supported the 1994 assault
weapons ban.34 He also adopted a conservative position on
the environment, opposing U.S. involvement in the U.N.
conservation program while criticizing the Environmental
Protection Agency for overregulation.35
In 2000 Martínez was challenged by state senator
Hilda Solis, whose district overlapped with roughly 97
percent of his. Solis called Martínez’s votes on abortion,
gun control, and environmental regulations “dramatically
out of touch.”36 She received endorsements from EMILY’s
list—a group dedicated to electing pro-choice women to
Congress—and from significant labor organizations.37
“They don’t mean a damn thing,” Martínez said of Solis’
endoresements. “When I first ran for state Assembly in
1980, every single union endorsed the incumbent and I
still won.”38 Still, Solis outraised Martínez four to one, and
chipped away at his political backing, winning the support of many in California’s congressional delegation.39 Others
remained neutral.40 Martínez garnered just 28.5 percent
of the primary vote to Solis’s 62.2 percent.41
In his remaining months in the House, Martínez
aligned himself with Republicans, opposing the Democrats
on many votes. On July 27, 2000, Martínez formally
switched political parties. “I didn’t leave the Democrat
Party, the Democratic Party left me,” he said.42 “I no longer want to be part of a party where loyalty is not
rewarded with support.”43 Noting that he agreed with
many Republican positions, including tax cut proposals,
he said “Republicans were more understanding of
American values.”44 Despite vowing to run as a Republican
in 2002, Martínez returned to private life.45 He died in
Fredericksburg, Virginia, on October 15, 2011.
View Record in the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
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