Speaker of the House, Dean Cannon.

On Tuesday morning, the overwhelming Republican majority selected Rep. Dean Cannon of Winter Park to be speaker of the Florida House -- and the new speaker responded with a promise to spend the next two years fighting for conservative values.

As he took over the gavel, Cannon fired at the Florida Supreme Court, pledging to fight for greater economic freedom to get Floridians back to work. He also tore into economic policies backed by President Barack Obama as impeding freedom and economic prosperity.

First elected to the House in 2004, Cannon, who represents part of Orange County, was student body president at the University of Florida, where he studied journalism as an undergraduate and, later, went to law school there.

Cannon was nominated by Rep. Bill Proctor, R-St. Augustine. “The task we confront will test the ablest of leaders,” said Proctor, who added that he believes Cannon is up to the task based on the close relationships he has built over their years in the House. “Rep. Cannon has shown the attributes of good and true leadership, not the least of which is his capacity for growth.”

Responded Cannon, “I cannot adequately express my gratitude for the incredible honor and privilege you have entrusted to me to be your speaker. I promise you I will hold myself accountable and ask that we all hold each other accountable, to the high standards of this institution and the people we represent.”

Cannon praised outgoing Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala. “I have sought the counsel of many of the former speakers for advice over the years, and especially Speaker Cretul,” said Cannon. “And I intend to do so again, gentlemen. And, they cautioned me that each speaker must confront the issues at hand, not the issues they wish were at hand when they were first elected.  I'll tell you, that's true.

“Together we all share a responsibility to address the tough issues facing our state now,” continued Cannon. “I know we will not always agree on the difficult choices ahead, but regardless of the circumstances, we are privileged to hold in this chamber the trust of the people of Florida and with that trust comes a responsibility to do our very best for them.”

Cannon noted that Republicans control the House -- holding 81 of the 120 seats.

“We find ourselves today with a large majority caucus,” said Cannon. “This means the majority has the responsibility to lead, the minority has the opportunity to participate and the public has the right to watch. As your speaker, my goal is to ensure that all of that happens fairly and orderly.

“The most meaningful bipartisanship is unforced, voluntary bipartisanship, and I hope that we in the majority party will work with those in the minority party to collaborate for the good of the people we serve. And so, I extend a pledge of fairness to members of both parties, but please remember that obstructionism is not the same as dissent and personal attacks are not the same as meaningful debate.”

Cannon left no room for doubt that he believes government should remain limited.

“It is unfortunate, but true, that a terrible temptation when you are part of government is to succumb to the notion that we in Tallahassee can make all things better through government,” said Cannon. “It's so easy to see people facing challenges and think, ‘if we just had more government revenue, we could create a program to fix that,’ or ‘if the government would just impose more regulations, these bad things would never happen to good people.’