October 30, 2006

Veteran Democratic Consultant Ed Martin
Suffers Heart Attack on Trip to Chicago

Veteran Democratic strategist Ed Martin of Austin had a heart attack Sunday while visiting his daughter during parent's weekend at the college she's attending in Chicago.

Martin - a former executive director at the Texas Democratic Party - was taken to the Advocate Christ Medical Center in the Chicago suburb of Oak Lawn where he's undergoing tests as a patient in the intensive care unit's cardiac division.

Martin fell ill after he and his wife, Patsy, had traveled to the Chicago area to see their daughter, Amy, who's a freshman at the University of Chicago. He's currently listed in stable condition while under evaluation by doctors there.

Martin, 55, has been a key force in Democratic politics in Texas for more than two decades. He managed the state party when Sherman attorney Bob Slagle was chairman during the 1980s and early 1990s before Bill White, who's now Houston mayor, took over.

Martin continued to advise the state party as a private consultant after leaving the TDP staff - and he was a key member of Martin Frost's team before the longtime Dallas congressman fell victim to the Republican redistricting effort that cost several other U.S. House Democrats from Texas their seats as well in the election two years ago. Martin was a pivotal player in redistricting battles when Democrats controlled the Legislature and when they were forced on the defensive in the past few years.

Martin most recently has been a consultant to the Legislative Study Group Caucus, the Texas Democratic Trust and the Texas Progress Council - a political action committee that's been conducting research for Democrats with money provided by Dallas trial lawyer Fred Baron.