What was shaping up as an interesting potential face-off between long-time friends Pat McCrory (R) and Patrick Cannon (D) for the Charlotte mayor’s office is done. Cannon, currently mayor pro tem and a city councilman, announced this afternoon that not only was he dropping out of the mayor’s race, he was leaving politics altogether, leaving his seat on the city council at the end of his term.
It is hard to over-state the bombshell that this is for Charlotte politics. Cannon was widely believed to be positioned to at least challenge the GOP lock on the mayoral post. A combination of his own moderate temperment and the fact that the 2004 election cycle left Democrats in a strong position with regard to registration and voter momentum, capturing as they did the Mecklenburg county council, would’ve given McCrory his toughest race in years come November.
Cannon cited a certainly understandable desire to put his family first in the coming years, a commendable trait that was always telegraphed by his level-headed approach to city issues. Although you might disagree with where he landed on a particular issue, there was little doubt that Cannon thought long and hard about the issues facing Charlotte.
Here’s hoping Cannon finds a way to continue to offer up his insights in the future.
