Martinez, Penelas Decide Not To Enter County Mayoral Race

HIALEAH (CBS4) - Raul Martinez and Alex Penelas have ended speculation they would run for mayor of Miami-Dade County Monday night.

Martinez and Penelas separately tell CBS4's Jim DeFede that they are out of the running, one day before potential candidates must make a final decision.

Martinez  will instead focus his sights on reclaiming his old political seat - as mayor of Hialeah.

It's a position he held from 1981-2005 before retiring from politics to start his own PR firm, Martinez & Fernandez Public Relations.

The mayoral seat is expected to be vacant come November as current mayor Julio Robaina has expressed his intention to run for mayor of Miami-Dade County on May 24th.

"There are a lot of problems, too short of an amount of time to make an impact. You have a commission, and I pretty much know most of them, but the way that they are acting is so irrational. I feel that I can do better, faster in the city of Hialeah and getting the city back on the right track, which it's not right now," Martinez told CBS4's Peter D'Oench from his Hialeah home.

It is unclear if Penelas will re-enter politics, but he did tell CBS4's Jim DeFede that due to the political climate in Miami-Dade County, it was not ideal for him to run.