Profile: Mac Cannon, 36th Delegate District Candidate

At a Glance

• Born: Washington, D.C.
• Education: Bachelor's from Virginia Tech in business; current master's student at George Mason University for public administration
• Family: Married; three children
• Occupation: Executive director of American Council of Engineering Companies
• Public office: None

Throughout his life, Hugh "Mac" Cannon often heard people say they could see him running for office someday. With an extroverted personality and a strong interest in politics from a young age, it seemed inevitable.

In 2009, his wife prompted him to make his first run for the 36th Delegate District seat against longtime incumbent Del. Ken Plum (D). He lost that bid, but Cannon (R) is again seeking the seat.

The Oakton native has always been a people person, and as he grew older he saw his ability to connect with people as a gift. By the mere act of enjoying a conversation, he can learn from other people and gain knowledge he might not otherwise have.

During his childhood, Cannon watched his father work on Capitol Hill. He often had the opportunity to accompany his father to various functions that allowed him to witness the camaraderie and civility that can exist between politicians of opposite parties.

"The thing about debate is you really get to understand both sides and in the end you hopefully come out with a better product or understanding than when you walked in," Cannon said. "You may be more justified, you may look a little weaker, or you may have heard additional things that you need to consider that do either of those."

For Cannon, politicians should be about putting their best foot forward for the people who have elected them, not about partisan gamesmanship.

Yes, he's a Republican. But he says he's an open-minded one, not making any decision without weighing all options. He refuses to sign pledges of any kind, including a no-tax pledge, a popular one among his fellow Republicans.

"Why would I do that? If I'm negotiating on behalf of the people in my district, regardless of party, why would I walk in and start taking things off the table? That puts a wall up to the conversation," Cannon said. "If I don't know enough about an issue, or even if I think I already do, I push myself to understand the other opinions because you have to know where that person is coming from."

But Cannon believes his opponent lacks bipartisanship, a quality he finds of utmost importance if the Northern Virginia delegation wants to be able to come back from the General Assembly with something to offer its constituents.

"He doesn't get along with Republicans at all, and arguably doesn't get along with every Democrat," the 34-year-old said of Plum. "When you are crafting the message for a party, with people sick of what's going on in D.C. with this hyper-partisanship, how can you step back and say you're effective when you've been in it for so long? It's really hard for me to believe you're going to be able to shake out of it."

Cannon said Plum's inability to work on a bipartisan level has been a major reason why state representatives have been ineffective in finding solutions to Northern Virginia's transportation issues, namely the funding issues with Dulles Rail.

"I'm running against a 30-year incumbent who himself takes credit for bringing the Metro to us," Cannon said. "So with that comes a certain amount of responsibility and foresight he should've had back then for where we are now."

Cannon pointed to Plum's recent letter to Gov. Bob McDonnell (R), who has endorsed Cannon, regarding a request for more money from the state for the rail project as too little, too late. He also believes it's a bit disingenuous considering Plum's vote against expanding the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority to have more Virginian representatives.

"He voted against it because he said the governor needs to pony up money first before he votes to have representation, but on the same side of the coin he sends a letter down to the governor saying 'You need to bringing more money up here,'" Cannon said. "That's not leadership on the issue, that's playing partisan politics."

To Cannon, good leadership is keeping an open dialogue, whether it's with fellow politicians or with his constituents.

"All I can tell you is I'm going to go down there and do the best job I can. You're going to know what's going on and what the issues are, and you're going to have it translated back to you in layman's terms to demystify the process so regular people understand what the government actually does," Cannon said.