Salmon eyes U.S. House run in 2012

Matt Salmon (File photo)

Jeff Flake replaced Matt Salmon in the U.S. House of Representatives, and now Salmon says he may seek to return the favor and return to Congress.

The former congressman and gubernatorial candidate said today he is “seriously considering” running to replace Flake, who announced in February he was running for the U.S. Senate.

“I’m going to make a decision very, very soon,” Salmon said.

He pointed to the national debt as one of the main reasons he wants to return to the nation’s capital.

“The budget was balanced when I left (in 2000). Now, we’re looking at a trillion-and-a-half-dollar deficit,” he said.

The solution, Salmon said, is for Arizona to send its “most experienced, most proven” people to Congress to fight for a balanced budget.

Salmon was first elected to Congress in 1994. During his campaign, he pledged to serve only three terms as a congressman. He kept his word, but now says he doesn’t believe the self-imposed term limit was a good thing.

“I can guarantee I won’t be making any term-limit pledges this time around,” he said.