Vince Illuzzi, a longtime senator from the Northeast Kingdom, filed a petition Thursday in his bid to become the state’s next auditor.
Auditor Tom Salmon, who was elected in 2006, is not running for re-election.
Illuzzi will face Doug Hoffer, a self-employed policy analyst who ran for auditor in 2010. Hoffer is running as a Democrat, but has also been endorsed by the Progressive Party. Illuzzi initially collected signatures as an independent but ultimately decided to run as a Republican.
At a press conference Thursday, Illuzzi explained he has roots in the Republican Party going back to 1980, when he was 27 years old. Republicans in the Northeast Kingdom recruited him to run for a seat in the state Senate. He said he believes he has evolved into the type of Republican who embodies principles carried forward by more independent Vermont Republicans like Ernest Gibson, Franklin Billings, George Aiken, Robert Stafford and Jim Jeffords.
Illuzzi, a strong supporter of organized labor who finds himself aligning with Democrats and Progressives relatively frequently, said he struggled with deciding which ticket to run on.
“In the end I concluded I could be just as effective as an independent Vermont Republican,” Illuzzi said. “There is a big difference between Vermont Republicans by history and those who by and large now serve in Congress. In Congress, you have very conservative individuals who hold ideology over common sense and practical solutions to the problems facing our nation. I am not one of those Republicans.”
Illuzzi said he heard in April that Tom Salmon, the current state auditor, would not be seeking another term. He said the fact that Salmon would endorse him for the position was a factor in his decision to run. Illuzzi had also considered running for attorney general.
Democrat John Rodgers of Glover, Republican Rep. Bob Lewis of Derby and James Guyette, an independent from Derby Line, plan to run for Illuzzi’s open Senate seat in the Essex-Orleans district. Illuzzi said he would issue a statement Monday on whether he would endorse anyone for his former seat.
Illuzzi, the Essex County state’s attorney, said he thinks his experience in politics and law will make him a good candidate for auditor — an office that reports on the financial accountability of state government.
“It really is about looking at programs to see if they are performing as envisioned by the general assembly and as expected by the public and not resulting in any unintended consequences,” Illuzzi said. “It can really shine a light on how state government is working.”
Salmon, the current auditor is a certified public accountant, and Randy Brock, the auditor before Salmon, is a retired executive vice president for Fidelity Investments.
Hoffer, who also holds a law degree, is a self-employed policy analyst.
He worked under State Auditor Ed Flanagan from 1995 to 2000 under a contract.
“I’ve been a policy analyst for 20 years,” Hoffer said. “I am a numbers guy.”
He said he thinks the auditor’s work needs to be done with transparency and accountability. He said he thinks the auditor should post a detailed budget online including a list of all outside contractors and their contracts.
“A lot of people don’t know what the auditor does,” Hoffer said. “Some of that is because a lot of that work is not accessible.”
Hoffer lost to Salmon in the 2010 race for auditor.
In that race, the Vermont State Employees Association, Vermont NEA and the Vermont State Labor Council AFL-CIO endorsed Hoffer.
Illuzzi, a longtime advocate for organized labor, will also likely seek out those endorsements.
Early Thursday afternoon Hoffer said he was on his way to meet with union leaders in Montpelier.
