Flanagan was the first and remains the only openly gay individual in the country elected to a statewide office. “I’m proud to be a gay man,” said Flanagan, “but no one should vote for me or against me because of that.”

During the nine years he has been Vermont’s auditor of accounts he has developed a reputation as a keen watchdog, unafraid of a fight with the administration. He characterized the auditor’s job as the “informant within the executive branch.” He said “I have never been afraid to stand up for what is right as State Auditor.” Flanagan acknowledged that his stance has often meant having to take on leaders of his political party “in order to advocate for a more compassionate, more effective, and more efficient state government.”

During a press conference at the Statehouse, Flanagan was flanked by a large group of influential supporters, including Speaker of the House, Michael Obujuowski, D-Rockingham, former Senate president pro tem Peter Welch, and Judy Murphy, the head of the Vermont chapter of the National Organization of Women.

Flanagan ticked off a list of his office’s successes such as revamping childcare center oversight, the reorganization of a mental health care center, and cleaning up the process by which state contracts were awarded. “Every single tax dollar should be represented,” he told the crowd. “When the government doesn’t deliver, there is anguish and there is pain, and it affects real people.”

He also pointed to his successful efforts to encourage tougher enforcement of laws that protect health care consumers, insure that tax dollars slated for environmental protection are not used to fund bureaucracy, expose waste in state government’s contracting practices, and remedy the compromised quality of care at a veterans’ nursing home and the state’s second largest community mental health center.

The 49-year-old Waterbury resident announced his agenda for work in the senate which includes universal health care, a patient’s bill of rights, and campaign finance reform.

“This is when I start to get angry,” said Flanagan as he launched an attack on the current US Senate for what he called “unconscionable” behavior in recent years. “There are decent hard-working Americans who find it more difficult now than 15 years ago to make a living,” he said, “That is the sin which this Senate with its agenda has committed and that I will attempt to change.”

“I am running for the US Senate seat because of Jim Jefford’s voting record,” Flanagan told supporters. He said he would be a “different kind of senator,” from Jeffords, who he acknowledged as a nice man. “But in the end, a voting record is the final and ultimate work product of a US senator,” he said.

Responding to questions about Jeffords’ highly publicized support of HIV/AIDS funding and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, Flanagan said, “Of course, I’ll acknowledge those votes, but they pale in comparison to the $181 billion he voted to take away from Vermont in Medicare financing.” He also said that Jeffords had not supported the Patient’s Bill of Rights or efforts to allow Vermonters to obtain cheaper prescription medicines from Canada. Jeffords also voted to pass the Defense of Marriage Act, which Flanagan said he would eagerly vote to repeal.

He never mentioned his primary opponent Sen. Jan Backus, D-Chittenden, and when asked about her he said, “I think the small group of Democrats who vote in the primary will see I am the better choice.” The last oficial reports show Backus lagging far behind Flanagan in campaign contributions.

In his remarks, Flanagan noted his Vermont roots. He was not born in Vermont, due to his father’s position working for a US senator in Washington. “However, my mother and I have checked the calendar carefully, noting the frequent trips my parents made back and forth” he said, “and it is apparent that I was conceived here.”