Elizabeth Martinez Strauss is a lifelong resident of Tampa, Florida. She is a third-generation lawyer to practice in Hillsborough County. Her father, Victor Martinez, is a criminal defense lawyer and her grandfather, Dr. Victor J. Martinez, was a prominent heart surgeon, lawyer, and storyteller who rose to prominence from an immigrant family of Ybor City. Her grandmother, Margarita Suarez Cacciatore, was born in Spain and fled from Russia during the Spanish Civil War to America for a better life. It is her family who inspired her passion for helping others and bettering our community.
Elizabeth attended the Academy of the Holy Names and Plant High School. She graduated from the University of South Florida Honors College cum laude with a B.A. in Psychology and received her J.D. from Stetson University College of Law. In law school, she focused on trial advocacy and was a member of the renowned Stetson Trial Team.
She started her career as an Assistant Public Defender in Tampa, successfully representing hundreds of clients in criminal cases. She would later serve as Chief of the Violent Crimes Unit prosecuting violent crimes at the District Attorney’s Office in New Orleans, Louisiana. In 2022 alone, Elizabeth prosecuted six jury trials to verdict in high-profile murder and first-degree rape cases. Her time as a prosecutor planted the seed for the decision to run for State Attorney and taught her how to best prosecute criminals and deliver justice.
She is committed to respecting the rights of every person accused of a crime, but promises to go after the criminals who deserve it. She is committed to the principle that we do not fight evil with evil, we fight it with good. We do not fight darkness with darkness, we fight it with light.
Elizabeth currently runs her own criminal defense practice. She lives in Virginia Park with her husband, Charles Dustin, two sons, Victor and Charles, and their golden retriever, Patter. The Strauss boys play baseball in Tampa Bay Little League, basketball at the South Tampa YMCA, and football in the UA: Under the Lights league. Their family attends Radiant Church.