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 . 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 & 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 ASU College of Public Service & Community Solutions. In April 2020, Salmon was named Chairman of the American Kratom Association. The nonprofit organization "advocates to protect the freedom of consumers to safely consume natural kratom as a part of their personal health and well-being regimen." 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, who was controversial due to his support of impeached Governor Evan Mecham and his vote against the Martin Luther