Lee Cannon offers voters years of political experience. Joseph ''Steve'' Mattingly claims a lack of that experience is an asset, as well.
By SAUNDRA AMRHEIN, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 5, 2002
One lauds his political experience; the other trumpets his lack of it.
Former Pasco County Sheriff Lee Cannon and political newcomer Joseph "Steve" Mattingly face each other in the Democratic primary for state Senate District 11.
The winner of the primary will run against Republican state Rep. Mike Fasano of New Port Richey in the November general election.
Cannon, 56, says his experience as sheriff and as prosecutor and lawyer in private practice gives him the ability to handle complex issues and Tallahassee politics without catering to special interests.
"Consensus-building doesn't mean you walk up and kiss the ring of everybody," Cannon said.
Although Cannon has said he beats Mattingly on experience, he has spent most of his time jumping ahead to attack Fasano and other Republicans in the Legislature.
His first strike backfired. In August, Cannon sent out a news release charging Fasano with supporting a pay raise that enriched himself at the expense of "the business of the people."
Though Fasano voted to pass the state budget that included a pay raise, he personally has not accepted one since 1995 -- a fact Cannon failed to check.
If Fasano and Cannon wind up in a confrontation in November, it will not be the first. Two years ago, Fasano and former County Commissioner Ed Collins supported Bob White in his successful run to unseat Cannon as Pasco's sheriff.
But Cannon insists this race is not about paybacks.
"If I was going to do this only for vengeance, I wouldn't do it," Cannon said.
Cannon says he plans to find money in the state budget for education, seniors and the disabled by changing the tax exemptions granted to certain businesses.
"We always manage to find ways to give money back to the people in the position to pay taxes," Cannon said.
Mattingly, 57, doesn't shy away from his lack of political experience. The retired auto worker for Ford Motor Co. says the needs of uninsured workers and needy seniors forced him to run for office. His volunteer work in the community, including AARP, shows him the desperate situation facing many people.
Mattingly wants to cut corporate tax breaks to find money in the state budget. Unlike lawmakers in Tallahassee, he's not obligated to monied lobbying groups, he said.
His lack of political experience is an asset, he said.
"I can't do any worse than those people up there," Mattingly said.
THE JOB
State Senate District 11 runs from northern Pinellas County through western Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties and into Levy County. Senators are elected to four-year terms and are paid $29,328 a year.
DEMOCRATS
LEON H. CANNON, 56, was elected Pasco County sheriff in 1992 and served until he was defeated by political newcomer Bob White in 2000. Since then, Cannon returned to private practice with Lentz and Associates law firm in Palm Harbor. A native of Land O'Lakes, he received a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Tampa and a law degree from Nova University in Fort Lauderdale. Before being elected sheriff, Cannon was a lawyer in private practice. For two years, he also worked as a legal adviser at the Pasco County Sheriff's Office under former Sheriff Jim Gillum. Cannon was also a prosecutor with the Hillsborough State Attorney's Office. He began his career in law enforcement as a Tampa police officer. He is married and has two grown children. ASSETS: home, property, truck, tractor. LIABILITIES: mortgage, loans, credit card debt. SOURCE OF INCOME: law salary, pensions.
JOSEPH "STEVE" MATTINGLY, 57, is a political newcomer. He's a retired autoworker, having worked for Ford Motor Co. for 30 years. He is a board member and counselor for the Florida West Coast Council of Retired UAW Workers, based in New Port Richey. He has volunteered as a tax aide for the AARP for six years and has served as president of the AARP chapter in Spring Hill for two years. He is the group's vice president. A native of Louisville, Ky., he moved to Florida in 1994, and to Spring Hill in 1996 before moving to his current residence on the Pasco side of the Hernando County border in March 2001. ASSETS: home and vehicles. LIABILITIES: a car loan. SOURCE OF INCOME: pension.