# Matt Salmon

Matthew James Salmon (born January 21, 1958) is an American politician who served as a U.S. representative from Arizona from 1995 to 2001 and again from 2013 until 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he retired from office after representing Arizona's 5th congressional district. The district is based in Mesa and includes most of the East Valley; he previously represented Arizona's 1st congressional district. In 2002, he lost by less than 1% to Janet Napolitano in a highly competitive gubernatorial race. He regained a congressional seat in the 2012 election.
On February 25, 2016, Salmon announced his retirement from politics. In June 2016, Arizona State University announced that Salmon would join his undergraduate alma mater as vice president for government affairs in the office of government and community engagement. In this position, Salmon oversees the university's local, state and federal relations teams. He also holds a faculty appointment as a professor of practice in public affairs in the Watts College of Public Service & Community Solutions. In April 2020, Salmon was named chairman of the nonprofit American Kratom Association. He was a candidate in the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election.

## Early life and education

Salmon was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Robert James Salmon and Gloria Aagard Salmon. Salmon's maternal great-grandfather was born in Denmark. Salmon moved to Tempe at age 12 and graduated from Mesa High School in 1976. Salmon is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He lived in Taiwan from 1977 to 1979 as a missionary and speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese. Salmon was also a Sunday School teacher, cubmaster, and gospel doctrine teacher with his church. After graduating from college, Salmon worked as a telecommunications executive at Mountain Bell in 1981, eventually becoming community relations manager with Mountain Bell's successor, US West. Salmon was offered the position of director of public relations with US West in 1990, but declined the position after deciding to run for state senate.

## Arizona Senate (1991–1995)
### Elections

In 1990, he ran for the Arizona Senate in the 21st Senate District based in Mesa, Arizona. In the Republican primary, he defeated incumbent State Senator Jerry Gillespie. In the general election, he defeated Democrat Bill Hegarty 60–40%. In 1992, he won re-election to a second term unopposed.

### Tenure

In 1992, he was elected assistant majority leader. He served in that position until 1995.
In 1993, he sponsored legislation that created new drug testing programs for employers. That year, he also called for an independent study of the Department of Economic Services' child welfare agency.

### Committee assignments

* Senate Appropriations Committee
* Senate Indian Gambling Committee (Co-chairman)
* Senate Rules Committee (Chairman)

## U.S. House of Representatives (1995–2001)
### Elections
#### 1994

Incumbent U.S. Representative Sam Coppersmith, a Democrat, decided to retire after one term in what was then the 1st district in order to run for the U.S. Senate. Salmon won the Republican primary with a plurality of 39% in a five-candidate field. During his first congressional campaign, term limits were a high-profile issue. Salmon was one of many candidates nationwide who pledged to serve only three terms in Congress. In the general election, he defeated Democratic State Senator Chuck Blanchard, 56%–39%.

#### 1996

He won re-election to a second term with 60% of the vote.

#### 1998

He won re-election to a third term with 65% of the vote.

#### 2000

He honored his campaign term limits pledge and did not seek re-election to a fourth term in 2000. He was then succeeded by Jeff Flake.

### Tenure

During the 1994 congressional election, Salmon signed the Contract with America.
In 1999, he unsuccessfully advocated carving Ronald Reagan's face into Mount Rushmore, stating "He's the president that ended the Cold War. You think about 40 years of a major threat, not only to our country but to the world at large, being ended by one man - that's quite an achievement." Salmon's idea garnered support from Reps. Roscoe G. Bartlett (R-Md.) and John R. Kasich (R-Ohio).
Salmon was instrumental in obtaining the January 29, 2000, release of U.S.-based academic researcher Song Yongyi from detention in China on spying charges.

### Committee assignments

* Committee on International Relations
* Committee on Science
* Committee on Small Business
* Committee on Education and the Workforce

## Inter-congressional years (2001–2011)
### 2002 gubernatorial election

Incumbent Republican Arizona Governor Jane Dee Hull was ineligible for re-election in 2002. In the Republican primary, Salmon defeated Secretary of State of Arizona Betsy Bayless and Arizona Treasurer Carol Springer 56–30–14%. He won every county in the state. In the general election, he faced Democratic nominee and Arizona Attorney General Janet Napolitano, Libertarian nominee Barry Hess, and former Arizona Secretary of State Richard D. Mahoney (who ran as an independent, but was previously a Democrat). Napolitano defeated Salmon 46.2–45.2%, a difference of 11,819 votes.

### Political activism

After that race, he served as a lobbyist and chairman of the Arizona Republican Party. In 2007, he served as campaign manager to businessman Scott Smith's successful campaign for mayor of Mesa. In 2008, he became president of the Competitive Telecommunications Association, a Washington, D.C.–based trade association.

## U.S. House of Representatives (2013–2017)
### Elections
#### 2012

In April 2011, Salmon announced he would seek his old congressional seat, which was now numbered as the 5th district. His conception of term limits had evolved: in 2011 he stated that they were a flawed concept unless they were applied across the board. His successor in Congress, Jeff Flake, was giving up the seat to run for the United States Senate. He was endorsed by the Club for Growth, Governor Jan Brewer, Senator John Thune, U.S. Representative David Schweikert, U.S. Representative Trent Franks, and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. In the August 28 Republican primary, he defeated former state house speaker Kirk Adams 52–48%. In the general election, Salmon defeated Democrat Spencer Morgan 65–35%.

#### 2014

Salmon was reelected almost as easily in 2014. However, he announced on February 25, 2016, that he was retiring for good.

### Committee assignments

* Committee on International Relations / Committee on Foreign Affairs
** Chair, Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere
** Chair, Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific
* Committee on Education and the Workforce

### Tenure

In March 2013, he endorsed the idea of bringing back the Hastert Rule, which is that in order to bring a bill to the floor it must have a majority of the majority party's support.
In 2013, Salmon was one of a few dozen Republicans who attempted to defund the Affordable Care Act by allowing a government shutdown. Salmon indicated the shutdown was intentional.
He also proposed an amendment to the United States Constitution limiting House members to three terms in office and Senators to two.

#### Abortion

Salmon opposes abortion and has opposed federal funding of abortions as well as family-planning assistance that includes abortions.

#### Gay rights

Salmon voted to ban gay couples adopting children and opposes gay marriage. Salmon has a son who is gay. Salmon's son led the Arizona Log Cabin Republicans; he left the group to focus on medical school.

#### Budget

Salmon is a fiscal conservative and has often caused rifts and defections in his own party to oppose increasing the deficit. He has strictly opposed raising the debt limit and any new spending without matching cuts. He believes government agencies and institutions should undergo reform, not expansion, to meet their needs.

#### Taxation

Salmon signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, stating he would never vote for legislation to increase taxes on Americans. He opposes new government spending unless it has a plan to initiate some spending cut that will offset the loss. He has voted to cut various taxes, such as the estate and marriage taxes.
He was a cosponsor of a bill that would prevent political bias causing any discrimination in tax treatment.
In 2011, Salmon signed a pledge sponsored by Americans for Prosperity promising to vote against any climate change legislation that would raise taxes.

## 2022 Arizona gubernatorial campaign

In June 2021, he declared his candidacy in the 2022 race for Arizona governor, to succeed term limited incumbent Republican Doug Ducey. He was endorsed by Ted Cruz and the Club for Growth, among others. Salmon dropped out of the race on June 28, 2022.

## Electoral history

Arizona Senate 21st District Election, 1990 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Republican | Matt Salmon | 24,191 | 59.82 |
| Democratic | Bill Hegarty | 16,227 | 40.12 |
| Write-in | Tom Wilkinson | 24 | 0.06 |
Arizona Senate 21st District Election, 1992 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Republican | Matt Salmon (inc.) | 34,417 | 100 |
Arizona 1st Congressional District Republican Primary Election, 1994 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Republican | Matt Salmon | 19,862 | 38.97 |
| Republican | Susan Bitter Smith | 11,359 | 22.29 |
| Republican | Linda Rawles | 9,596 | 18.83 |
| Republican | Bev Hermon | 8,030 | 15.76 |
| Republican | Bert Tollefson | 2,119 | 4.16 |
Arizona 1st Congressional District Election, 1994 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Republican | Matt Salmon | 101,350 | 56.04 |
| Democratic | Chuck Blanchard | 70,627 | 39.05 |
| Libertarian | Bob Howarth | 8,890 | 4.92 |
Arizona 1st Congressional District Election, 1996 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Republican | Matt Salmon (inc.) | 135,634 | 60.18 |
| Democratic | John Cox | 89,738 | 39.82 |
Arizona 1st Congressional District Election, 1998 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Republican | Matt Salmon (inc.) | 98,840 | 64.62 |
| Democratic | David Mendoza | 54,108 | 35.38 |
Arizona Governor Republican Primary Election, 2002 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Republican | Matt Salmon | 174,055 | 55.99 |
| Republican | Betsey Bayless | 92,473 | 29.75 |
| Republican | Carol Springer | 44,333 | 14.26 |
| Republican/Write-in | Steve Moore | 16 | nil |
| Republican/Write-in | Diana Kennedy | 8 | nil |
Arizona Governor Election, 2002 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Democratic | Janet Napolitano | 566,284 | 46.19 |
| Republican | Matt Salmon | 554,465 | 45.22 |
| Independent | Richard Mahoney | 84,947 | 6.93 |
| Libertarian | Barry Hess | 20,356 | 1.66 |
| Write-in | Carlton Rahmani | 29 | nil |
| Write-in | Tracey Sturgess | 15 | nil |
| Write-in | Naida Axford | 5 | nil |
| Write-in | "Rayj" Raymond Caplette | 5 | nil |
| Write-in | D'Herrera Tapia | 4 | nil |
| Write-in | "Denny" Talbow | 1 | nil |
Arizona's 5th Congressional District Republican Primary Election, 2012 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Republican | Matt Salmon | 41,078 | 51.85 |
| Republican | Kirk Adams | 38,152 | 48.15 |
Arizona's 5th Congressional District Election, 2012 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Republican | Matt Salmon | 183,470 | 67.19 |
| Democratic | Spencer Morgan | 89,589 | 32.81 |
Arizona's 5th Congressional District Election, 2014 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Republican | Matt Salmon (inc.) | 124,867 | 69.58 |
| Democratic | James Woods | 54,596 | 30.42 |