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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@facts?”First, the roadside test recorded a BAC of .095. It was later at the barracks and after burping once or twice that he recorded a .086. “First, the roadside test may have record .095, a.) that’s not used in court and b.) it’s still below what was consider okay to drive only a few years ago (.01%) so I stand by my statement that he wasn’t ‘scumbag drunk’. Burping by the way will have the effect of artificially inflating the breathlyzer. What you guess he started at isn’t relevent. Facts?
That should be the 23:28:31 mark.
@Jimmy – Um, Salmon had no idea the cuffs were in play when he played the “you know I’m a state auditor, right?” card. Check the video at the 28:23:31 mark. He was playing that card to get out of the breathalyzer test and avoid getting in trouble, not to make a case that he wasn’t going to run away. So it seems you have done your cause a disservice by distorting the facts. But facts don’t matter in the end, right, because this was “clearly an opinion.” Make up your mind. Facts or opinion?@Jcarter – “I hardly think that 0.086% BAC constitutes someone so drunk that they are a scumbag drunk.” First, the roadside test recorded a BAC of .095. It was later at the barracks and after burping once or twice that he recorded a .086. Second, let’s not gloss over the fact that, as the cop said, “you haven’t been drinking in awhile so you’re on your way down.” Stowe to Montpelier isn’t that short of a drive (especially the route Salmon chose). My guess is he started the drive between 1% and 1.1%.
Neil, Franco’s brilliant move had nothing to do with holding anyone accountable. That had already happened by definition. It had to do, by his own admission, with helping his buddy Hoffer’s faltering campaign. Whoops.1R14thS, Salmon made a brief case for why he wasn’t going to run away to avoid being put in cuffs (not avoid being arrested), and then immediately apologized. You do your cause a disservice by distorting and outright fabricating facts.
Ted Kennedy had quite the political career driving drunk so did his kid Patrick. Who cares.
Neil, “-Drunk Driving Arrest? Four page article in one newspaper. Media blackout. Maybe a slap on the wrist.”really? That’s it? You must not follow the paper much. Moreover you don’t see the difference between Salmon getting a DUI, doing his punishment, quiting drinking and this year serving as a DD for his Christmas party, and Bernie unapologetically using a tragic event to drum up campaign funds? Maybe we should have a beer summit, that is apparantly how Obama handles false and mischaracterizations.
“Salmon took the consequences.”The hell he did.Watch the video. Salmon tried the “don’t you know who I am” defense. He tries the “why don’t you cops go out and catch some REAL criminals” defense. He pulls the “I served in Iraq and arresting me means you hate America” card.It’s only after Salmon has been cuffed and placed in the back seat of the police car that his demeanor changes into something resembling acceptance of responsibility, and even then he tries to suck up to the cop by saying he served as an enlisted man and didn’t obtain an officer’s commission because he thinks of himself as just one of the guys.Tom Salmon is a weaselly politician. He used Democrats to get into office, then showed them that for him loyalty only goes as far as the last campaign contribution.He mishandled his office. There was an embezzlement of hundreds of thousands of dollars from the state government over several years, and it went undetected by Salmon.Salmon is personally abusive. Just look at the e-mail he sent Shay Totten:http://7d.blogs.com/blurt/2010/05/salmon-email-response.htmlTom Salmon doesn’t deserve the office he holds. I HOPE he runs against Bernie Sanders in 2021 so that Sanders can end Salmon’s political “career” once and for all.
This thread is epic. It starts with someone to the right of Bernie lamenting that he isn’t held accountable for the “despicable” things he’s done and then four posts later, Jimmy begin lamenting that Salmon is held too accountable for the things he’s done.Perhaps we need to have a Vermont Blog Commenter summit wherein we decide what the appropriate level of accountability should be based on the action.Lets get started!-Three page fundraiser letter with one objectionable line? Recall.-Drunk Driving Arrest? Four page article in one newspaper. Media blackout. Maybe a slap on the wrist.-Going the Governor’s Speed on the Highway? Instant video release.
Any of you silly heads know any victims of drunk driving? One 5 ounce glass of wine puts a woman weighing 120 pounds at .04 and it has been proven that impairment, ie not being clear-headed and able to make good choices, such as starting and stopping, braking, discerning proper moves to make or not, starts at .04. Most people in Montpelier, out for dinner, kill of a liter of wine then drive home, DUH! Vermonters have learned very little about DUI, which is what our state is. Most appear to NOT give a damn, hell they made it home. Well it isn’t about that you made it home, it is about what might have happened if and when you didn’t make it home. IF you must drink, do not drive and perhaps only do your drinking at home. Salmon admitted his mistake, has spoken out and has stopped drinking. He has learned a very valuable lesson. In California, the court punishment for driving under the influence is to attend and watch an autopsy. Many leave vomiting, and they stop drinking. Get my drift?
Salmon was held up to the light wrt his DUI long before Franco’s failed attempt to beat him. The act of suing for that tape and putting it on the news was awful for Salmon’s family, but it was more pathetic than awful in general.