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Created page with "{{Infobox officeholder | name=Mercurio J. "Merc" Martinez, Jr. | office=County Judge of Webb County, Texas | term_start =January 1, 1991 | term_end=December 31, 2001 | p..."
{{Infobox officeholder
| name=Mercurio J. "Merc" Martinez, Jr.
| office=County Judge of Webb County, [[Texas]]
| term_start =January 1, 1991
| term_end=December 31, 2001
| predecessor=Andres "Andy" Ramos
| successor=Louis H. Bruni
| birth_date=July 25, 1937
| birth_place=[[Laredo]], Texas, USA
| nationality=[[Hispanic]]
| party=[[Democratic Party||Democrat]]
| spouse=Rosa Ancira Martinez (married 1959)
| children=Leticia, Adriana, Mercurio, III, Jorge, Carlos, and Rosalycia<br>
'''Parents''':<br>
Mercurio, Sr., and Cristina Treviño Martinez
| residence=Laredo, Texas
| alma_mater=St. Augustine Parochial School<br>
Laredo Junior College<br>
St. Mary's University ([[San Antonio]], Texas)<br>
University of North Texas at Denton
| occupation=[[Educator]], [[Business]]man, landowner
| religion=[[Roman Catholic]]}}
}}
'''Mercurio J. Martinez, Jr.''', often known as '''Merc Martinez''' (born July 25, 1937), is an educator, rancher, and [[business]]man from his native [[Laredo]], [Texas]]. From 1991 to 2001, he was the county judge of Webb County in South Texas.
==Background==
Martinez was one of two children born at the age of sixty-three to Mercurio Martinez, Sr. (1876-1965), and his third wife, the 42-year-old former Cristina Treviño. The senior Martinez was a descendant of [[Spain|Spanish]]-[[Mexico|Mexican]] pioneers who had settled on the banks of the [[Rio Grande]] in the mid-eighteenth century. An educator and public official in his native Zapata County, Martinez subsequently practiced law in Laredo until 1942, when he retired at the age of sixty-six. He continued to associate with other lawyers on occasional cases dealing with land ownership and engaged in historical research.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tamucush/00083/tamu-00083.html|title=Inventory of the Mercurio Martinez Papers|publisher=Texas A&M University|accessdate=April 28, 2014}}</ref>The younger sister of Martinez, Jr., is named Rosa, which is also the name of his wife, the former Rosa Ancira, whom he married in 1959. Mercurio and Rosa Martinez have six children, Leticia, Adriana, Mercurio, III, Jorge, Carlos, and Rosalycia.<ref name=lisd/>
Martinez, Jr., was reared in the downtown La Azteca neighborhood of Laredo and graduated from St. Augustine Parochial School, then located downtown next to St. Agustin Cathedral. He studied at Laredo Junior College (since Laredo College).<ref name=bio/> He was exempt from [[conscription]] in the 1960s because he was a married father.<ref name=interview>{{cite web|url=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/voces/template-stories-indiv.html?work_urn=urn%3Autlol%3Awwlatin.717&work_title=Martinez%2C+Mercurio|title=Vidushi Shrimali, "Mercurio Martinez, Jr."|publisher=lib.utexas.edu|accessdate=April 28, 2014}}</ref>From 1968 to 1978, Martinez was trustee of LJC and its parent organization, the Laredo Independent School District.<ref name=tamiudocument/>
Since 2004, he has served on the elected LCC board of trustees. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration in 1959 from St. Mary's University in [[San Antonio]]. He procured a [[Master of Business Administration]] degree from the University of North Texas in Denton.
He did post-graduate study at [[Southern Methodist University]] near [[Dallas]], Colorado State University in Fort Collins, [[Colorado]], and the [[Harvard University]] School of Business.<ref name=lisd/>
Martinez was an LJC business and economics instructor from c. 1960 until 1967, when he joined Union National Bank of Laredo, since [[Wells Fargo]] near City Hall.<ref name=bio>"2014 honoree: Mercurio Martinez, Jr.: Former councilman, county judge to receive higher education award for community work," ''Laredo Morning Times,'' February 6, 2014, p. 4D.</ref>
==Political life==
In 1978, the [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] Martinez was elected to the Laredo City Council, a nominally nonpartisan position. At the same time, [[Aldo Tatangelo]] was elected [[mayor]] to succeed the retiring [[J. C. Martin (Texas politician)|J. C. "Pepe" Martin]] of the former "Independent Club," who subsequently spent time in the Webb County Jail for theft of municipal services.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/wmiqt|title=Independent Club|publisher=''The Handbook of Texas''|accessdate= April 27, 2012}}</ref> Martinez worked on the council to change the city government from "strong mayor" to "weak mayor" format through a new municipal charter.<ref name=bio/> After a brief time on the council, he was asked by [[U.S. President]] [[Jimmy Carter]] to head the Southwest Regional Office in Dallas of the [[Small Business Administration]]. During this stint, he lived in Dallas on weekdays but returned to Laredo most weekends.<ref name=interview/>
In 1982, Martinez returned to Laredo to run for mayor against Tatangelo, and though he had led in the primary, he lost in the[runoff election.<ref name=tamiudocument>{{cite web|url=http://www.tamiu.edu/oatah/rmendiola/documents/MercurioMartinezJr..pdf|title=Mercurio Martinez, Jr.|publisher=tamiu.edu|accessdate=April 28, 2014}}</ref> In 1990, he was elected county judge, having unseated the incumbent Andres "Andy" Ramos. Though he had no [[Republican Party|Republican]] opponent in the [[general election]], former Mayor Tatangelo, at the age of seventy-seven, opposed his former mayoral rival Martinez for county judge as a write-in candidate. Martinez still prevailed with some 75 percent of the votes cast, but the county Republican leadership, headed by [[Esther Buckley]], endorsed Tatangelo. After three terms as county judge, Martinez was unseated in the 2002 Democratic primary by [[Louis H. Bruni]], a departing member of the Laredo City Council from District 2. Thereafter, beginning in the fall of 2003, Martinez began teaching accounting at Texas A&M International University in Laredo.<ref name=bio/><ref>Louis H. Bruni served only one term as county judge, having been defeated in 2006 by [[Danny Valdez]], who was himself defeated after two terms by former professional [[baseball]] player [[Tano Tijerina]] in 2014.</ref>
In 2006, Martinez ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination to represent Texas House District 42, having been defeated by the incumbent and still serving Richard Raymond of Laredo. In the primary Raymond fell .07 percent plus one vote short of an outright victory. He finished first with 11,806 votes (49.8 percent); Martinez trailed with 7,650 (32.3 percent). Two other contenders held the remaining 17.9 percent of the vote.In the runoff in April 2006, Raymond prevailed, 8,828 votes (57.8 percent) to Martinez's 6,456 (42.2 percent).
Oddly, in 2005, Martinez contributed $1,000 to Raymond's proposed run for the [[United States House of Representatives]], a race that never materialized.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.city-data.com/elec2/06/elec-LAREDO-TX-06.html|title=LAREDO, Texas (TX) Political Contributions by Individuals|publisher=city-data.com|accessdate=May 3, 2014}}</ref>
==Honors==
In 2014, Martinez was honored with the "Higher Education Award" by the League of United Latin American Citizens, formally presented as part of the [[George Washington]] Birthday Celebration]] in Laredo.<ref name=bio/>He received the Paul P. Harris Award from Rotary International, the St. George and Silver Beaver medals from the [[Boy Scouts]] of America, the Tejano Achiever Award from LULAC, and "Distinguished Alumni" in 2001 of Laredo Community College.<ref name=lisd>{{cite web|url=http://www.laredoisd.org/departments/tds/cabm.html|title=Mercurio Martinez|publisher=Laredo Independent School District|accessdate=April 28, 2014}}</ref>
Martinez's namesake grandson, Mercurio Martinez, IV, was killed in an automobile accident in 2009 at the age of eighteen. Each year the community honors his memory with the "Mercurio Martinez, IV Teens in the Driver Seat, Annual 5K Run,''", sponsored by the Vidal M. Treviño School of Communications and Fine Arts, an entity of the Laredo Independent School District named for the late educator and one-term state representative, [[Vidal M. Treviño]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.laredoisd.org/board/nelsonsnotes/pics%20final/5k%20registration%20form%202013.pdf|title=Mercurio Martinez, IV Teens in the Driver Seat, 5th Annual 5K Run, Sunday March 24, 2013|publisher=laredoisd.org|accessdate=April 28, 2014}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Mercurio}}
[[Category:Texas]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Ranchers]]
[[Category:Educators]]
[[Category:Professors]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Democrats]]
[[Category:Catholics]]
[[Category:Catholic Politicians]]
| name=Mercurio J. "Merc" Martinez, Jr.
| office=County Judge of Webb County, [[Texas]]
| term_start =January 1, 1991
| term_end=December 31, 2001
| predecessor=Andres "Andy" Ramos
| successor=Louis H. Bruni
| birth_date=July 25, 1937
| birth_place=[[Laredo]], Texas, USA
| nationality=[[Hispanic]]
| party=[[Democratic Party||Democrat]]
| spouse=Rosa Ancira Martinez (married 1959)
| children=Leticia, Adriana, Mercurio, III, Jorge, Carlos, and Rosalycia<br>
'''Parents''':<br>
Mercurio, Sr., and Cristina Treviño Martinez
| residence=Laredo, Texas
| alma_mater=St. Augustine Parochial School<br>
Laredo Junior College<br>
St. Mary's University ([[San Antonio]], Texas)<br>
University of North Texas at Denton
| occupation=[[Educator]], [[Business]]man, landowner
| religion=[[Roman Catholic]]}}
}}
'''Mercurio J. Martinez, Jr.''', often known as '''Merc Martinez''' (born July 25, 1937), is an educator, rancher, and [[business]]man from his native [[Laredo]], [Texas]]. From 1991 to 2001, he was the county judge of Webb County in South Texas.
==Background==
Martinez was one of two children born at the age of sixty-three to Mercurio Martinez, Sr. (1876-1965), and his third wife, the 42-year-old former Cristina Treviño. The senior Martinez was a descendant of [[Spain|Spanish]]-[[Mexico|Mexican]] pioneers who had settled on the banks of the [[Rio Grande]] in the mid-eighteenth century. An educator and public official in his native Zapata County, Martinez subsequently practiced law in Laredo until 1942, when he retired at the age of sixty-six. He continued to associate with other lawyers on occasional cases dealing with land ownership and engaged in historical research.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tamucush/00083/tamu-00083.html|title=Inventory of the Mercurio Martinez Papers|publisher=Texas A&M University|accessdate=April 28, 2014}}</ref>The younger sister of Martinez, Jr., is named Rosa, which is also the name of his wife, the former Rosa Ancira, whom he married in 1959. Mercurio and Rosa Martinez have six children, Leticia, Adriana, Mercurio, III, Jorge, Carlos, and Rosalycia.<ref name=lisd/>
Martinez, Jr., was reared in the downtown La Azteca neighborhood of Laredo and graduated from St. Augustine Parochial School, then located downtown next to St. Agustin Cathedral. He studied at Laredo Junior College (since Laredo College).<ref name=bio/> He was exempt from [[conscription]] in the 1960s because he was a married father.<ref name=interview>{{cite web|url=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/voces/template-stories-indiv.html?work_urn=urn%3Autlol%3Awwlatin.717&work_title=Martinez%2C+Mercurio|title=Vidushi Shrimali, "Mercurio Martinez, Jr."|publisher=lib.utexas.edu|accessdate=April 28, 2014}}</ref>From 1968 to 1978, Martinez was trustee of LJC and its parent organization, the Laredo Independent School District.<ref name=tamiudocument/>
Since 2004, he has served on the elected LCC board of trustees. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration in 1959 from St. Mary's University in [[San Antonio]]. He procured a [[Master of Business Administration]] degree from the University of North Texas in Denton.
He did post-graduate study at [[Southern Methodist University]] near [[Dallas]], Colorado State University in Fort Collins, [[Colorado]], and the [[Harvard University]] School of Business.<ref name=lisd/>
Martinez was an LJC business and economics instructor from c. 1960 until 1967, when he joined Union National Bank of Laredo, since [[Wells Fargo]] near City Hall.<ref name=bio>"2014 honoree: Mercurio Martinez, Jr.: Former councilman, county judge to receive higher education award for community work," ''Laredo Morning Times,'' February 6, 2014, p. 4D.</ref>
==Political life==
In 1978, the [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] Martinez was elected to the Laredo City Council, a nominally nonpartisan position. At the same time, [[Aldo Tatangelo]] was elected [[mayor]] to succeed the retiring [[J. C. Martin (Texas politician)|J. C. "Pepe" Martin]] of the former "Independent Club," who subsequently spent time in the Webb County Jail for theft of municipal services.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/wmiqt|title=Independent Club|publisher=''The Handbook of Texas''|accessdate= April 27, 2012}}</ref> Martinez worked on the council to change the city government from "strong mayor" to "weak mayor" format through a new municipal charter.<ref name=bio/> After a brief time on the council, he was asked by [[U.S. President]] [[Jimmy Carter]] to head the Southwest Regional Office in Dallas of the [[Small Business Administration]]. During this stint, he lived in Dallas on weekdays but returned to Laredo most weekends.<ref name=interview/>
In 1982, Martinez returned to Laredo to run for mayor against Tatangelo, and though he had led in the primary, he lost in the[runoff election.<ref name=tamiudocument>{{cite web|url=http://www.tamiu.edu/oatah/rmendiola/documents/MercurioMartinezJr..pdf|title=Mercurio Martinez, Jr.|publisher=tamiu.edu|accessdate=April 28, 2014}}</ref> In 1990, he was elected county judge, having unseated the incumbent Andres "Andy" Ramos. Though he had no [[Republican Party|Republican]] opponent in the [[general election]], former Mayor Tatangelo, at the age of seventy-seven, opposed his former mayoral rival Martinez for county judge as a write-in candidate. Martinez still prevailed with some 75 percent of the votes cast, but the county Republican leadership, headed by [[Esther Buckley]], endorsed Tatangelo. After three terms as county judge, Martinez was unseated in the 2002 Democratic primary by [[Louis H. Bruni]], a departing member of the Laredo City Council from District 2. Thereafter, beginning in the fall of 2003, Martinez began teaching accounting at Texas A&M International University in Laredo.<ref name=bio/><ref>Louis H. Bruni served only one term as county judge, having been defeated in 2006 by [[Danny Valdez]], who was himself defeated after two terms by former professional [[baseball]] player [[Tano Tijerina]] in 2014.</ref>
In 2006, Martinez ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination to represent Texas House District 42, having been defeated by the incumbent and still serving Richard Raymond of Laredo. In the primary Raymond fell .07 percent plus one vote short of an outright victory. He finished first with 11,806 votes (49.8 percent); Martinez trailed with 7,650 (32.3 percent). Two other contenders held the remaining 17.9 percent of the vote.In the runoff in April 2006, Raymond prevailed, 8,828 votes (57.8 percent) to Martinez's 6,456 (42.2 percent).
Oddly, in 2005, Martinez contributed $1,000 to Raymond's proposed run for the [[United States House of Representatives]], a race that never materialized.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.city-data.com/elec2/06/elec-LAREDO-TX-06.html|title=LAREDO, Texas (TX) Political Contributions by Individuals|publisher=city-data.com|accessdate=May 3, 2014}}</ref>
==Honors==
In 2014, Martinez was honored with the "Higher Education Award" by the League of United Latin American Citizens, formally presented as part of the [[George Washington]] Birthday Celebration]] in Laredo.<ref name=bio/>He received the Paul P. Harris Award from Rotary International, the St. George and Silver Beaver medals from the [[Boy Scouts]] of America, the Tejano Achiever Award from LULAC, and "Distinguished Alumni" in 2001 of Laredo Community College.<ref name=lisd>{{cite web|url=http://www.laredoisd.org/departments/tds/cabm.html|title=Mercurio Martinez|publisher=Laredo Independent School District|accessdate=April 28, 2014}}</ref>
Martinez's namesake grandson, Mercurio Martinez, IV, was killed in an automobile accident in 2009 at the age of eighteen. Each year the community honors his memory with the "Mercurio Martinez, IV Teens in the Driver Seat, Annual 5K Run,''", sponsored by the Vidal M. Treviño School of Communications and Fine Arts, an entity of the Laredo Independent School District named for the late educator and one-term state representative, [[Vidal M. Treviño]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.laredoisd.org/board/nelsonsnotes/pics%20final/5k%20registration%20form%202013.pdf|title=Mercurio Martinez, IV Teens in the Driver Seat, 5th Annual 5K Run, Sunday March 24, 2013|publisher=laredoisd.org|accessdate=April 28, 2014}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Mercurio}}
[[Category:Texas]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Ranchers]]
[[Category:Educators]]
[[Category:Professors]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Democrats]]
[[Category:Catholics]]
[[Category:Catholic Politicians]]