Rep. Linda Joy Sullivan, D-Dorset, announced Monday that she will run for state auditor this year, challenging incumbent Democrat Doug Hoffer.
Sullivan, who is serving her second term in the House, is a certified public accountant and the founder of a Vermont-based public audit and consulting firm, MaughanSullivan LLC.
While Sullivan and Hoffer will both be running as Democrats, they represent opposite ends of the party — Sullivan is a moderate while Hoffer has his roots in the Progressive party.
Sullivan says her background as a professional auditor makes her qualified to be the state’s “watchdog.”
“Pretty much what I do for a living is root out fraud and waste, and I have been doing it for many many years. So I believe that I will actually be a very capable auditor,” she said Monday.
The Dorset Democrat said that Vermont could use a new leader in the auditor’s office, where Hoffer has served since the beginning of 2013.
“In the auditing profession everybody knows that the auditor should not stay in place on accounts for more than five years,” Sullivan said. “I think for independence…it’s time to have fresh eyes.”
Hoffer says the logic of Sullivan’s argument is faulty, and while it may apply to the fields financial and compliance auditing it does not apply to performance auditing: the vetting of government and public programs for efficiency and effectiveness.
The incumbent auditor said that while he oversees the staff in his office, he doesn’t actually conduct the audits—his audit team does.
“I’m not the guy who does the work, I’m the guy who decides what jobs we undertake,” he said.
And he added that the agencies, departments, and programs his office looks into are constantly changing.
Hoffer, who said last month he was running for reelection, has recently turned his focus to Vermont’s health care programs and regulators. His office is currently undertaking an audit of OneCare, the state’s accountable care organization. He declined to detail other audits he’d like to pursue.
“There’s lots more work to do, it’s a big state government,” Hoffer said. “I enjoy the work, I’d like to think we add value.”
In addition to her work as a CPA, Sullivan has also served as a court-appointed receiver to help turn around struggling institutions. In 2018, she was appointed as the receiver of a Rutland Town Fire District, when it owed about $150,000 to the Vermont Municipal Bond Bank.
