Marion Thorpe, Former Chief Medical Officer of Florida, First African-American Republican to Eye Statewide Run for 2010

Miami, FL, January 09, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Florida’s former Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Marion Thorpe Jr., has expressed interest in running for the US Senate seat being vacated by Senator Mel Martinez. Thorpe is best known for his strong advocacy of an improved quality Health Care system that is made affordable and effective while improving accessibility for all people. Should he run, Thorpe will be the first African-American Republican in the nation to announce his candidacy for statewide office in the 2010 cycle, a fact that will come in handy for the GOP should Rep. Kendrick Meek gain the Democratic nomination, as is a strong possibility.

As Chief Medical Officer he sought to ensure that new technology was used across the state to prevent medical mishaps and loss of patient information. Dr. Thorpe launched several programs to ensure that the care offered by Florida’s HMOs and Public Health providers would serve patients better on all levels.

Thorpe is a longtime political player in Florida who has toured the state for his work in the Health Care field. In 1998, then Gov. Jeb Bush appointed him to spearhead the State of Florida’s Comprehensive Health Information Systems panel and in 2005 named him Chief Medical Officer for Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration.

As a former Health Care CEO and Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Thorpe has led the integration of emerging technologies into Florida Health Care and Medicine since the 1990s. He has served on numerous health care boards, including Chairman of the Information Technology Board of the Broward County Medical Association (BCMA) and the Governor's Health Information Infrastructure Advisory Board.

In 2008, Thorpe ran against Democratic Congressman Alcee Hastings for Florida’s 23rd US Congressional District. Said Thorpe about the race “I knew that the race would be a long, uphill battle during a presidential election cycle, but I also knew that somebody needed to raise a rallying cry in the district for our youth and for greater employment. District 23 also needed to move beyond race. Our campaign brought the focus on where it should be, on jobs, education and the economy, forever changing the playing field in the district.”

To this end, Thorpe launched an initiative to introduce life skills training and financial literacy to schools and teen programs in the district, culminating in the Thorpe for Youth Initiative. As Thorpe puts it; “What we accomplished was a tremendous success. It’s all that I knew we could do in 2008, given the demographics of the district, but our platform and the programs that we set in motion succeeded beyond what could have been imagined.”

Thorpe’s US Senate platform, should he formally enter the race, will focus on health care, education and on bringing jobs back to Florida. When questioned about how to bring the state out of recession, he added the following, “Florida has a vibrant agricultural economic potential. It also has the technology and the ability to lead the nation in the development of domestically produced energy sources. There is simply no excuse for the double digit unemployment levels that have plagued many parts of the state and I’m committed to fighting for a solution to this pervasive problem in whichever race that I decide to run.”

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