State Rep. Rita Martinson may be one of the Mississippi Legislature's most diminutive members, but the shoes her successor to the 58th House District must fill are large.
Martinson, 77, who has represented Madison as a Republican since 1992, recently announced that she would not seek another term so that she can spend more time traveling with her family.
"I feel like the time is right for my husband and I. We love traveling—picking up on the spur of the moment—and I look forward to being able to do that," she told the Madison County Journal this week.
A business owner, Martinson championed education and small-business issues. When Republicans took control of the House in 2012, Speaker Philip Gunn named her chairwoman of the House Tourism Committee.
In the most recent session, she sponsored a bill that would have made tourism projects eligible for the state sales-tax incentive program to include hotels "located within a historic district where the district is listed in the National Register of Historic Places," as well as the building of hotels with a $10 million or higher price tag.
The hope was that the legislation would help along Jackson's plan for a convention-center hotel, but lawmakers removed the hotel incentive provision in a conference committee of House and Senate members.
Martinson also authored a bill to create a study committee on entertainment-industry investment.
In previous years, Martinson also shepherded Gov. Phil Bryant's so-called "3rd Grade Reading Gate" bill, which requires third graders to show reading proficiency before they are promoted to the next grade.
Citing infrastructure and planning concerns, Martinson was key in a 2010 controversy over the construction of a mosque in Madison County. Martinson said at the time that places of worship did not fit into the aesthetic character of the area, and she believed that an on-site wastewater treatment plant would be too small. The mosque eventually gained zoning approval.
Clarion-Ledger Political Editor Geoff Pender reported that tech entrepreneur Joel Bomgar is considering a run to replace Martinson.
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