Gubernatorial candidate has local ties
Monday, February 8, 2010
A former Lyon County school administrator has decided to join the race for governor, saying the time might be right for an Independent candidate who is not a career politician.
Ken Cannon, who spent four years as a school principal in Olpe in the mid-1980s, said he has considered a run for a while, and decided that after being in education for more than 36 years he’s hearing from acquaintances that now is the time.
“About four or five months ago, we started laying the groundwork,” Cannon said, “making telephone calls to people I know and seeing what they thought, if they felt like the time was right, and the word we’re getting back is that it’s definitely right.”
Cannon has been criss-crossing the state lately, getting feedback from citizens about the issues that concern them.
One major concern is the economy, he said.
“People have to put food on the table, and when jobs are in jeopardy or jobs can’t be found, we’ve got to get creative about bringing some things to the state to keep people employed so they can put food on the table,” he said.
As an educator, school funding is another important part of Cannon’s platform.
“These little towns, they lose their schools and it doesn’t take long for a community to dry up and blow away,” he said, referring to many districts that face consolidation because of budget struggles. “There is a lot of concern from a lot of people about schools.”
Although Cannon doesn’t necessarily support school systems suing the state for more funding, he said something does need to be done about cuts to school budgets.
“I don’t believe in lawsuits, but I can tell you that we’ve got to find some creative ways to help out education,” he said. “We can’t continue to short-change teachers and kids. Kids are our future.”
On a recent visit to Emporia State University, where Cannon earned a degree after moving here from his home in Nemaha County, he said he was heartened by what he saw.
“It was refreshing to see those kids hustling and bustling off to class,” he said. “They’ve got goals in mind, and they’re ambitious, and if we don’t keep that going in Kansas, let alone the United States, then we’re a nation in trouble.”
Politically, Cannon describes his Independent philosophy in terms he came up with during his days as a basketball coach.
“As a coach, it didn’t really matter to me at all whether you were the bank president’s son or the garbage collector’s son, whoever I could put together on that floor and they played their role and made a contribution, I was going to put the best people out there that I could.”
As an Independent, Cannon said for the state to move forward, it must move past partisan politics.
“I think we need to put the best team together that we can and do things for our state,” he said. “Set this party politics aside and get the best team out there on the floor.”