State auditor swaps party
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State Auditor Tom Salmon speaks at a news conference in Montpelier on Tuesday to announce he is switching to the Republican party. The Associated Press |
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By Louis Porter Vermont Press Bureau - Published: September 9, 2009
MONTPELIER — He made it official.
State Auditor Tom Salmon became a Republican Tuesday, arguing that Democrats have moved to the left "in a reunion with the Progressive Party" that he did not want to be part of.
Salmon said he plans on running again for his current job as auditor, but added that there is a small chance he will run for higher office. In any case he will have an "R" next to his name on the ballot, Salmon said.
"Where my political career is going is uncertain, is unknown," Salmon said.
The announcement comes not long after Republican Gov. James Douglas threw the Vermont political world into turmoil by announcing he will not run for re-election. There are already three Democrats in or considering a run for their party's nomination in the race for governor and they may well be joined by others.
Republican Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie has not decided whether he will run for governor. If Dubie does run, Salmon said he will support him.
Salmon was very critical of the Democrat-controlled Legislature, as he has been for some time.
"The majority of Vermonters do not want to see tax increases as a response to poor planning," Salmon said. The budget process Salmon said was "rife with deficiencies and dysfunction."
Speaker of the House Shap Smith said he was disappointed in Salmon's decision.
"Throughout the legislative session we talked to him about the ideas he presented and in fact incorporated some of them into the budget," said Smith, a Morristown Democrat. Among them was the hiring of a consulting firm to oversee cost-cutting efforts and the implementation of a gas tax to help pay for road and bridge projects, Smith said. "He and Vermont would have been better served by him making his argument within the Democratic big tent."
Salmon paraphrased Ronald Reagan, repeating a theme of many who leave their political parties.
"The Democratic Party left me," Salmon said.
Vermont GOP chairman Rob Roper said Salmon was welcome in the Republican Party and praised his decision.
The Vermont GOP was not as encouraging when former U.S. Sen. James Jeffords left the party to become an independent, calling him a turncoat and making a reference to Judas Iscariot.
"The feelings are always going to be harder when you are losing somebody than when you are gaining somebody," said Roper, who was not chairman when the letter referring to Jeffords was written.
Salmon "talked to a lot of people in our party, in the Democratic party when he formulated his decision," Roper said. "We accept him with open arms."
Salmon is the son of a former Democratic governor, Thomas Salmon, who was elected in 1972.
"My father and I are fortunate to have a very candid relationship. He supports me unequivocally," Salmon said Tuesday.
Former Gov. Salmon could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
The younger Salmon became state auditor in 2006 after a recount, defeating incumbent Republican Randy Brock by a mere 102 votes. Salmon, who was at the time deployed in the Middle East as a U.S. Navy reservist, won re-election unopposed.
Now a state senator from Franklin County, Brock, who watched Salmon's Statehouse announcement Tuesday, said there is no ill feeling from that contest and he welcomes Salmon into the GOP.
"It is part of our new strategy," Brock joked. "We intend to take over all of the state offices by having the incumbents come over to the Republican Party."
He agrees with Salmon about lawmaker's budgeting process, Brock said.
"Our Legislature is going the wrong way," he said.
Smith disagreed with Salmon, saying lawmakers took a balanced approach, including cutting $200 million in state spending from the budget.
Salmon, who lived in California for several years, said he could not recall voting for a Democratic governor in Vermont. Salmon added that he believes he voted for Doug Racine in Racine's unsuccessful 2002 bid for governor, and voted for Douglas since.
Racine, now a state senator, is one of the Democrats running for governor in the 2010 election.
State Sen. Kevin Mullin, a Rutland Republican, said he respects Salmon's decision.
"I can see he wrestled through an agonizing decision and it wasn't an easy one for him," Mullin said.
Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin, D-Windham, said in a statement he disagreed with Salmon's assessment of the Legislature's work.
"Fiscal responsibility is practiced by members of all parties and as the 2010 session approaches the Legislature will continue to put Vermonters back to work and craft a balanced and fair budget," Shumlin said.
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