Anne M. Gannon
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Anne M. Gannon (born December 23, 1947) is a Democratic politician who currently serves as the Palm Beach County Tax Collector. Prior to her election as Tax Collector, she served as a member of the
Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...
, representing the 88th District from 2000 to 2002, and the 86th District from 2002 to 2006.


History

Gannon was born in
Xenia, Ohio Xenia ( ) is a city in Greene County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located in southwestern Ohio, it is east of Dayton, Ohio, Dayton and is part of the Greater Dayton, Dayton metropolitan area as well as the Miami Valley region. As o ...
, and grew up in
Mechanicsburg, Ohio Mechanicsburg is a village in Champaign County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,681 at the 2020 census. History Mechanicsburg was platted in 1814. The village was so named for the fact a large share of its settlers worked as mechan ...
, where her father was the President of the Mechanicsburg School Board of Education. She attended
Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (MGCCC) is a Public college, public community college with its main campus in Perkinston, Mississippi. It was founded as Harrison County Agricultural High School in 1912. MGCCC has three campuses and sev ...
before moving to
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
in 1983, and then attended Palm Beach Community College,
Barry University Barry University is a private Catholic university in Miami Shores, Florida. Founded in 1940 by the Adrian Dominican Sisters, it is one of the largest Catholic universities in the Southeast and is located within the Archdiocese of Miami. Th ...
, and
Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, United States. The university is a member of the State University System of Florida and has s ...
, studying business administration and political science.


Florida House of Representatives

When incumbent
State Representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United St ...
Suzanne Jacobs was unable to seek another term in 2000 due to term limits, Gannon ran to succeed her. In the Democratic primary, Gannon faced former State Representative Barry Silver, David Niven, Michele Nemo, and Doug Westcott. Gannon initially placed second in the initial primary, receiving 26% of the vote to Silver's 37%. However, because no candidate received a majority, a runoff election was held between Silver and Gannon. She ultimately emerged victorious, winning 52% of the vote to Silver's 48%. In the general election, she faced only
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
candidate Stan Smilan, whom she defeated in a landslide with 85% of the vote. When she ran for re-election in 2002, Silver ran against her once again, and because no other candidates filed, the primary was open to all voters. Silver sued Gannon "for allegedly defaming his character in campaign literature she distributed" two years prior, while Gannon responded by sending out campaign literature "pointing out Silver's poor driving record" and calling him a "negative person." Gannon did not much face difficulty in winning renomination, which she did with 63% of the vote. She was re-elected without opposition in 2004.


Palm Beach County Tax Collector

In 2006, Gannon initially planned to run for the
Florida Senate The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...
to succeed
Ron Klein Ronald Jason Klein ( ; born July 10, 1957) is an American politician and lawyer who is a former member of the United States House of Representatives for . He is a member of the Democratic Party and chairs the Jewish Democratic Council of Amer ...
, who was term-limited, but dropped out of the race to instead run for a fourth and final term in the state House. However, when John K. Clark, the
Palm Beach County Palm Beach County is a county in the southeastern part of Florida, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's third-most populous county after Miami-Dade County and Broward County and the 24th-most populous in the United States, wi ...
Tax Collector, resigned due to poor health, then-Governor
Jeb Bush John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. A member of the Bush family, Bush political family, he was an unsuccessful candidate for pre ...
appointed Republican Peter Carney as Clark's interim replacement until a special election could be held. Gannon opted to run in the special election, campaigning on increasing efficiency within the office to improve performance, and defeated small business owner Randy Johnson in the Democratic primary with 70% of the vote. In the general election, she defeated Carney in a landslide, receiving over 60% of the vote. Gannon was re-elected in 2008 without opposition, and in 2012, was challenged by Carney in the Democratic primary. Carney criticized Gannon for "long wait times for service" in the Tax Collector's office and for problems relating to the poor installation of new software to provide property data. Once again, Gannon defeated Carney in a rout, winning renomination with 87% of the vote. In the general election, she faced no major opposition and won re-election handily.


References


External links


Florida House of Representatives - Anne M. GannonPalm Beach County Tax CollectorAbout Anne M. Gannon
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gannon, Anne M. 1947 births Living people Democratic Party members of the Florida House of Representatives People from Mechanicsburg, Ohio Politicians from Xenia, Ohio 21st-century members of the Florida Legislature