User:Meilang76/sandbox



= Melissa "Mel" Martin = Melissa "Mel" Martin (born April 21, 1976) is a Democratic candidate for the Florida Senate to represent the 14th District, encompassing southern Volusia County and the northern half of Brevard County. The District includes Cocoa, Rockledge, Merritt Island, Cape Canaveral, Titusville, Oak Hill, Edgewater, New Smyrna Beach, Port Orange, DeLand, Lake Helen, and Deltona.

Background & Education
Martin was born and raised in Central Florida (Wekiva in Longwood, Seminole County), where she graduated from Lake Brantley High School in 1994 and was appointed and selected to attend the U.S. Naval Academy. Graduating in 1998 and commissioned as a U.S. Marine Corps officer, Martin earned a Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in Political Science, minoring in the Spanish language.

U.S. Marine Corps
Martin's first duty station was with the Marine Air Control Group 28 in Cherry Point, North Carolina, followed by various assignments with Marine Corps Recruit Depot/Eastern Recruiting Region, Parris Island, South Carolina.

From Parris Island, Martin was selected for the Law Education Program and was granted Extended Leave to pursue a Juris Doctorate. She attended Barry University School of Law in Orlando, Florida, graduating cum laude, and proceeded to the Naval Justice School in Newport, Rhode Island. Martin then returned to Parris Island to serve in the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate and later served as the Senior Defense Counsel for Marine Corps Recruit Depot/Eastern Recruiting Region, Parris Island.

Martin's following assignment was with the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Central Command, on MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa, Florida, where she served as the Chief of Operational and International Law and deployed to various countries in the Middle East. Martin's final assignment was serving as the Staff Judge Advocate for Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan. She retired in 2014 and she, her husband, and their three children returned to Central Florida, settling in Cocoa, in January 2015. Martin is currently an active (but not practicing) member in good standing of the Florida Bar.

Community Advocate
In the following year (2016), Martin established a local chapter of the national anti-corruption organization, Represent.Us; stepped in to serve as Area Captain for Floridians Against Fracking; and helped found and lead the Brevard Indian River Lagoon Coalition. Throughout, Martin has been active in both organizing, mentoring, and advocating for issues of public interest, primarily in the fields of good government and the environment.

In August 2017, Mel Martin filed to run for office in the Florida Senate, District 14, having registered with the Democratic Party in May 2017.