State Auditor Tom Salmon announced to his 3539 friends on Facebook last night that he won’t seek reelection in 2012 — less than two months after he was sworn into a third term.
“I have enjoyed my service to the state but will not seek re-election as state auditor,” Salmon wrote around 9 p.m. “It has been an honor to serve with such a talented team at the SAO (State Auditor’s Office). Thank you all.”
What’s next for Salmon? He’s not sure: Possibly a run for U.S. Senate, or dropping out of politics entirely and seeking a degree in mediation and conflict resolution.
“I will work where I can make a difference. We have transformed the auditors office and I am very proud of the staff and the work . Politics may not be the future,” wrote Salmon in an email to Seven Days.
In response to his Facebook post, several of his supporters are urging him to run for governor in 2012 against Democrat Peter Shumlin. His father, Thomas Salmon, was elected governor as a Democrat in 1972.
Salmon, first elected as a Democrat in 2006, switched parties in 2009 and became a Republican. He won reelection last fall against Doug Hoffer, a Democrat/Progressive.
For almost a year Salmon has mulled a run against U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT. Earlier this year he said he would announce his decision to run against Sanders by March 5.
Salmon told Seven Days via email the move is, “definately a step for transparency.” He said while the move help align him politically to run against Sanders, it could also end up being a “step out” not a step up.
“We have to evaluate very hard as a family at this stage. Members of the Progressive Party and other anonymous parties inflicted a fair amount of pain on the entire clan last year,” said Salmon.
Salmon is referring to the efforts of John Franco, a Burlington attorney and longtime Progressive and close ally of Sanders, who successfully sued to have a videotape of Salmon’s 2009 DUI stop made public. It was released just days before the November election. Franco was also a supporter of Salmon’s challenger, Doug Hoffer.
Salmon believes Sanders could have done more to thwart Franco’s efforts, and told him so in a letter the day after he won reelection last fall. He said Franco’s release of the DUI tape “helped contribute to one of the most negative campaign seasons of recent history.”
“As the highest ranking Progressive in the State of Vermont, it is incumbent upon you to answer whether you were aware of” Franco’s request, Salmon wrote to Sanders in a November 3 letter. “Was he acting on behalf of you? Could you please clarify your relationship with him because it has been reported to me that the two of you have a strong history and continue regular lunches and meetings.”
Sanders failed to respond to Salmon’s letter.
This article appears in Feb 16-22, 2011.
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“you have to suffer whatever embarrassing public tongue-lashings you receive”…and unless video of each of your dalliances is aired on the evening news, you have not borne the proper consequences of your actions. You know, following your logic.
@JCARTER: The press said .086. Salmon was close to the limit but when you’re drinking and driving, should you really be flirting with the legal line? And besides, the dude had 5 drinks in 3 hours! If you think driving home after 5 drinks in 3 hours is a good idea, I’m guessing you’re impaired and a danger behind the wheel. But your question was when does it become a scumbag move? Everyone’s tolerance is different, obviously, so my opinion is that it becomes a scumbag move when you don’t know your limit (or you knowingly exceed your limit) and still you choose to operate a motor vehicle anyway.And my opinion is if you choose to have an affair and lie to your loved one, you have to suffer whatever embarrassing public tongue-lashings you receive, regardless of whether or not you’re a politician.
Salmon’s kids obviously knew about the DUI. They didn’t need to see their dad in cuffs. No one did. It ultimately served no positive purpose.That’s right, the poll showed a four point spread. Hoffer lost by nine points, more than twice that.”I suspect Salmon will pick up some sympathy votes thanks to the video’s release and Hoffer may lose votes given his close association with Franco.” – Shay Totten, 11/1/2010″Releasing the video of Salmon’s DUI stop last year did more harm to his opponent, Doug Hoffer, than it did Salmon. If anything, it made Salmon more likeable and human.” – Shay Totten, 11/3/2010
And is a 6.5% win vs an earlier 4% lead really a “much wider margin”? That VPR poll had a 4% margin of error.
BB do you know what Salmon’s BAC was?What do you consider to be drunk? At what BAC does one become a danger and when does it become a scumbag move?Also, adultery is still on the books, does that mean you would have been ok with Dubie holding an afternoon presser with a handful of adultresses to bring to light events in a public forum?
“[Franco] is to blame for the impact … on Salmon’s family”? That’s funny. “Kids, now I know I drove drunk and that was a bad thing to do, but I’m sorry that you feel embarrassed by me. That’s Franco’s fault.” Again, I thought accountability was your forte.And you keep mentioning that Franco lost the election for Hoffer. All I can find is a VPR in mid-October listing Salmon leading Hoffer 38-34%, followed by Totten’s 10/27 column saying “I thought Republican Tom Salmon had this one in the bag, but his challenger — political newcomer Doug Hoffer, who is running as a Democrat-Progressive — has made this a very competitive race. With a strong showing in a VPR poll and a Burlington Free Press endorsement, Hoffer is holding his own. It’ll be upstream all the way for Salmon, but he’ll net a win in the end.” I’m wondering, if Salmon was in the lead all along, how Franco’s involvement can be blamed for Hoffer’s loss? Or am I missing a poll from early October that had Hoffer in the lead?
“Keep trying to pass the blame, Jimmy.”Franco isn’t to blame for Salmon’s DUI. He is to blame for the impact that his utterly unnecessary shenanigans had on Salmon’s family, and he is responsible for Hoffer’s loss, because those were the only two consequences of his actions.
To answer your question, yes. I see nothing wrong with being held accountable in a public forum for such a crime. And especially yes when you’re running for public office. (I thought accountability in politics was your forte?) But again, all Salmon had to do was not drive drunk in the first place. Keep trying to pass the blame, Jimmy.
That Franco cost Hoffer the election is one of the few things that I agree with Totten on – he predicted it, and he was right. Salmon won by a much wider margin than the polls from days earlier would have indicated. The “Franco fiasco” was the only thing that happened in the Auditor’s race in the days leading up to the election. Do the math.
You have to have your arrest video broadcast on the local news a few nights before the election to accept responsibility for a DUI?That’s the kind of quality logic that lost Hoffer the election, and is quickly obsoleting the Progressive party. Keep it up.