Matthew James Salmon (born January 21, 1958) is an American Republican politician, who retired from office after serving as representative for Arizona's 5th congressional district. The district is based in Mesa and includes most of the East Valley. He previously represented the district, then numbered as the 1st District, from 1995 to 2001. In 2002, he lost by less than 1% to Janet Napolitano in a highly competitive governor's race. He regained his old congressional seat in the 2012 election. Salmon and his wife Nancy have been married for 34 years. They have four children and seven grandchildren.On February 25, 2016, Salmon announced his retirement from politics. In June 2016, Arizona State University announced that Salmon would join ASU as Vice President for Government Affairs in the Office of Government & Community Engagement. In this position, Salmon will oversee the university’s local, state and federal relations teams.