Influence100 Dean Cannon {lobbyist}
Dean Cannon has done it all. Licensed pilot, licensed insurance agent, legal counsel to local governments. Successful land-use lawyer. Florida Blue Key, student government president at the University of Florida and an accomplished legislative tour. Hugely successful Speaker of the Florida House, and founder of what has become in three short years one of Florida’s elite lobbying shops. Husband to a beautiful and patient wife and father to three delightful and well-adjusted children. And, not the least, a disc jockey and musicologist. What’s most surprising is not the range of Speaker Cannon’s experience, but that he excelled at every stop. In the Florida Legislature, before he was Speaker, Cannon was given the most difficult of assignments. Cannon successfully brought each issue to the ground, reforming the state’s PIP laws and more. His reputation as Speaker was impeccable. Like everything he has tackled in life, Cannon mastered the political process with grace and dignity. But make no mistake, he mastered it. William Peebles is the founding principal and managing partner of Peebles and Smith lobbying firm.
Gaston Cantens {lobbyist}
Several words help describe Gaston Cantens: family, team, determination, loyalty and unity. His family is a team and his team becomes part of his family. If he’s in, he’s all in. Gaston is a leader who brings people together. He demonstrated a relentless commitment to uniting a once-divided Miami-Dade legislative delegation. That unity allowed them to produce the first Cuban-American Speaker in now Senator and presidential hopeful Marco Rubio. That unity remains and has now produced another future Speaker (Jose Oliva). Although, at times, some may view his soft-spoken demeanor as weakness, his opponents soon learn he is a determined yet fair adversary. He’s as strategic as he is tenacious and he earns their respect. Gaston is determined and loyal. These characteristics carried him through Tallahassee as a representative of his community. They are also the characteristics he brings as the voice for one of the nation’s most important agriculture and food producing operations. There are people who are respected because of their title and then there are people respected long after the title is gone. Former state Rep. Gaston Cantens is respected because of the traits he embodies, not because of any title he may have held. Ralph Arza was in the Florida House of Representatives and currently is president of Arza Consulting, a government relations company.
Al Cardenas PHOTOS: Mary Beth Tyson (Cantens and Cannon); Courtesy Al Cardenas
{lobbyist}
For Al Cardenas, making an impact must have seemed an improbable dream when he came to the United States as a 12-year-old. Forced to leave Cuba, his family came to Miami and he began his American journey, learning a new language, new customs and his passion for the freedom of political discourse. After being Dade County chairman for the Reagan ’76 campaign, Al ran for Congress in 1978, challenging Florida icon Claude Pepper. He met a fellow candidate from Texas named George W. Bush and established an enduring friendship with the Bush family. It’s a fascinating journey, one I was fortunate to be a small part of when he was vice chairman and then chairman of the Republican Party of Florida during the 10 momentous years from 1993 to 2003. I learned much from Al. He challenged our views and tactics constantly, from messaging to absentee ballot strategies to data acquisition. He made us look through a new lens dedicated to expanding and deepening the pool, and establishing the natural affinity between Republican values and Florida’s growing Hispanic voting bloc. I submit that Al was visionary, for he understood Florida’s changing demographics and messaging needs. Today he travels with presidential nominees, and his counsel is sought and highly valued. David Johnson is a national Republican political consultant who has worked in Florida politics since 1992. He was a former executive director of Florida’s Republican Party.
FALL 2015 INFLUENCE | 107