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© St. Petersburg Times, published August 1, 2002
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome incumbent state Sen. Mike Fasano.
Oh, sorry. It just seems that way.
It is an accurate representation of how Fasano, the New Port Richey Republican, isfront-runner in the race for the newly created Senate District 11 that stretches from Dunedin in Pinellas County up through western Pasco western Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties.
The campaign money -- more than $160,000 -- has been flowing since the four-term state representative declared his Senate candidacy more than 18 months ago. But on July 24, Fasano got his first public dose of front-runner treatment during a four-candidate debate put on by the West Pasco Chamber of Commerce. And political opponents offer a substantially different approach than the coronation bestowed by lobbyists and Political Action Committees.
In this case, front-runner equates to frontal assault.
Fellow Republican Janet Henderson, the vice mayor of Dunedin, said she never would have resigned as majority leader because it hurts the district's constituents. Fasano gave up the No. 2 position in the House after a dispute with House Speaker Tom Feeney.
Democrats Lee Cannon and Joseph "Steve" Mattingly talked continually about the Legislature's inability to provide adequate financing for Florida's public education system.
Mattingly, a Spring Hill retiree, joked that his inexperience is an asset, not a liability, considering the performance of current legislators.
Cannon criticized Fasano's camp for handing out a state-financed constituent newsletter at a political function.
Henderson's campaign literature blasted Fasano for "pursuing his own political agenda in the Florida Legislature at the expense of his constituents in Pasco County" and highlighted what she considered to be egregious deeds, including going "against Gov. Jeb Bush's wishes on education spending."
You can tell her campaign is aimed at Republican primary voters, because ignoring the governor on education spending just might earn you substantial Democratic Party support.
Cannon, the presumed front-runner in the Democratic primary, was a little more subtle. Twice he offered "gambling and liquor" as the types of corporate interests receiving favorable tax-exemption treatment from the Legislature at the same time schools go wanting.
Fasano shrugged afterward.
"They had to attack somebody. It just happened to be me," he said.
Translation: His poll numbers are so high, he doesn't have to respond.
In his opening comments, Fasano portrayed himself as a problem-solver, not a complainer.
Anybody who thinks Fasano doesn't complain never heard his grumblings about the Senate district lines, which include substantially less of his stronghold in Pasco County than he wanted.
But last week, he absorbed the criticism without flinching. There will be plenty more opportunities before the Sept. 10 primary.
-- C.T. Bowen is editor of editorials for the Times' Pasco County editions.