Hannon graduated from Chaminade High School (1963), Boston College (1967) and Fordham University School of Law (1970). During the presidential primary season of 1976, Hannon was a panelmember for an episode of Firing Line with William F. Buckley, Jr., discussing whether Reagan or Ford was the better nominee.
He was Special Counsel to the law firm Farrell Fritz, P.C., ending the association on January 31, 2017. Hannon resides in Garden City, New York, with his wife Bronwyn and their twin daughters, Alexandra and Madeleine.[1][2]
Hannon served in the New York State Assembly from 1977 to 1989, sitting in the 182nd, 183rd, 184th, 185th, 186th, 187th and 188th New York State Legislatures. In 1989, he was elected to the New York State Senate[3] to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John R. Dunne.[4] Hannon represented the 6th State Senate District, which includes Levittown, Massapequa, Garden City, Uniondale, Hempstead, Farmingdale, Franklin Square, Old Bethpage, Salisbury, Garden City South, Plainview, Lakeview, Plainedge, Island Trees and East Meadow.[2][5]
A Republican, Hannon chaired the New York State Senate Health Committee for nearly two decades.[6]
In 2011, Hannon voted against allowing same-sex marriage in New York during a Senate roll-call vote on the Marriage Equality Act, which passed after a close 33-29 vote.[7][8] On January 14, 2013, Hannon voted in favor of the NY SAFE Act (a gun control bill), which the Senate passed 43-18.[9] On June 10, 2014, the State Senate passed medical marijuana legislation that was later signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo; Hannon, along with nine other Senate Republicans, voted against the bill.[10][11]
On November 6, 2018, after having served 29 years in the New York State Senate, Hannon was unexpectedly defeated in his re-election bid by Democratic challenger Kevin Thomas.[12]
