AMERICAN ALBUM : Mud is flying in Hialeah’s mayoral horse race : Despite the fact that he is a convicted felon, Raul Martinez is favored to win reelection in no-holds-barred contest.

When Raul Martinez was reelected to his third term as Hialeah mayor in 1989, he had just been indicted on federal charges of racketeering and extortion. He still won 53% of the vote.

Now, with another mayoral election just days away, Martinez is a convicted felon running for reelection as the city’s suspended mayor who soon may have to serve a 10-year prison sentence. But he is still expected to win.

“What it means is that people are saying: ‘This guy was framed,’ ” said Martinez, 44, commenting on polls that show him well ahead of four challengers. “No one has ever doubted my management abilities. People might say: ‘Maybe he did something outside of government, but he never neglected the city.’ ”

Outside of southern Florida, Hialeah is best-known as the site of one of the country’s premier horse racing venues, a lushly landscaped park where flocks of pink flamingos circle the infield as thoroughbreds circle the track.

But closer to home, in the greater Miami area, Hialeah is known as a blue-collar town where the only thing rougher than the pot-holed streets is the politics. In the last two weeks, Martinez’s opponents have circulated a flyer that features the suspended mayor’s FBI mug shot under the words, in Spanish, “Convicted felon.” Days after the flyer first appeared, Martinez and one of his rivals met at a Miami radio station, where they reportedly exchanged obscenities and spat in each other’s faces.

“I’ve never seen politics like this in my life,” said Hugh Cochran, a civic activist who helped found a Hialeah citizens’ group. “Screaming at council meetings, chanting, fights in the corridor. Is this the image of government in this country, the democratic ideal? I think not.”

To understand Hialeah, Martinez and local politics, it is perhaps necessary to know something of local history--both here and in Cuba.

Founded as a cattle ranch in 1909, Hialeah remained a small town until after World War II, when longtime mayor Henry Milander used tax breaks to turn the city into a manufacturing center.

But the real boom was provided by Fidel Castro. After the revolution in 1959, waves of exiles from Cuba were drawn to Hialeah by affordable housing and plenty of jobs in textiles and dozens of other small industries. Today, Hialeah is Florida’s fifth largest city, with a population of 203,000, 90% of whom are Latino. Most are Cuban.

In a community where politics has often seemed like a blood sport, no one proved more skilled at playing the treacherous game than Raul Martinez. Born in Cuba, he was first elected to the City Council in 1978 at the age of 28. He went on to win his first mayoral race in 1981, and he held that position for eight years.

A big man with the looks of a Latino Elvis Presley, Martinez was hard to miss as he made his daily rounds, handing out civic awards, dropping in at coffee shops and meeting with developers eager to put up housing and shopping centers for the soaring population.

In an area where the vast majority of Cubans are registered Republicans--the party traditionally toughest on Castro--Martinez has thrived as a maverick Democrat. “He has a personal charisma and a large group of loyalists who are almost fanatical in their love for him,” said Councilman Alex Morales, a supporter.

But Martinez was also a crook, prosecutors said, running Hialeah as his personal fiefdom during the 1980s and extorting up to $1 million in cash and various properties from developers in exchange for zoning favors. He has been allowed to remain free--and to run for reelection--while appealing his March, 1991, conviction.

Marinez admits that he made mistakes and says he will change his administrative style during another term. “No more back-room deals with City Council; next time I go public with everything,” he said. But he denies breaking the law and says he was targeted by former U.S. Atty. Dexter Lehtinen, whose wife, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, was Martinez’s chief rival to become the first Cuban-born member of Congress. Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican, was elected to the House of Representatives in 1989.

Acting Hialeah Mayor Julio Martinez, who is not related to Raul, is considered the leading challenger in the Nov. 2 election. He explains his opponent’s popularity this way: “The Cuban people are accustomed to dictators. Raul is tall; he even looks like (former Cuban dictator Fulgencio) Batista. Raul has that macho image, and people like to have a boss, no matter how bad he is.”

Raul Martinez, who has been working as general manager of a liquor store chain during his suspension, says he’ll be reelected because the people of Hialeah love him. “I grew up in this city,” he said. “I’m still seen as Raulito, even though I’m 6-foot-3 and weigh 250 pounds.”

He admits that his two years under suspension have taken their toll, and the specter of prison haunts him. “I hurt. I’ve cried,” he said. “But people have not abandoned me, and I think the biggest fear that anyone in public life has is of being alone. I was never alone.

“This is an odyssey. I realize I can do anything I want, including shutting off the pain. I have no hatred, I want no revenge. I just want to be mayor.”