Tony Miller (born June 28, 1948) is an American attorney and former

California Secretary of State The secretary of state of California is the chief clerk of the U.S. state of California, overseeing a department of 500 people. The secretary of state is elected for four year terms, like the state's other constitutional officers; the officeho ...

. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as Chief Deputy Secretary of State from 1981 to 1994 and then California Secretary of State from 1994 to 1995. Miller was a longtime public servant, Eagle Scout, and volunteer

firefighter A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

Biography

Miller was raised in the small town of Chester, California. He was elected student body president at his high school. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California, Davis in 1970 and in 1973 received his J.D. degree from the University of California (Boalt Hall) School of Law at Berkeley. Miller has also worked as a legislative aide,

criminal investigator A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

, and college instructor. Miller served as chairman of the Plumas County Democratic Central Committee during law school, and subsequently as an appointed member of the state's newly created Fair Political Practices Commission (1975–76). Before becoming chief deputy to former Secretary of State March Fong Eu, Miller served as the Secretary of State's chief legal counsel (1976–81). In 1994, March Fong Eu resigned to become United States

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

to the Federated States of Micronesia, leaving Miller as

Acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad r ...

Secretary of State. As Chief Deputy Secretary of State, Miller built a solid reputation for smooth, efficient and fairly run statewide elections, and for the administration of one of the best-run agencies in state government. He ran for election to the post, winning the Democratic primary over Los Angeles Assemblywoman Gwen Moore and former Los Angeles City Councilman (1985-1993) and 1993 mayoral election runner-up Mike Woo, but lost in a very close general election to Bill Jones. In 1998, Miller ran in the Democratic primary for

Lieutenant Governor of California The lieutenant governor of California is the second highest executive officer of the government of the U.S. state of California. The lieutenant governor is elected to serve a four-year term and can serve a maximum of two terms. In addition to l ...

, but lost the nomination to the Assembly Speaker, Cruz Bustamante. Miller then returned to private practice. After the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) was passed by Congress in 2002, Miller was appointed by California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley to lead the implementation of HAVA in California. In 2004, Miller served as special counsel to Shelley when Shelley was accused of misappropriating federal HAVA funds for his own purposes. Shelley eventually resigned in 2005. Miller is a lifelong Californian, an avid runner, avid farmer, and craftsman. He is openly gay and has been in a relationship since 1973. He and his husband live on a small farm in

Sutter County Sutter County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 99,633. The county seat is Yuba City. Sutter County is included in the Yuba City, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the Sacra ...

, near Sacramento.

References

External links

Archive of 1994 campaign site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Tony 1948 births Living people California Democrats Gay politicians American LGBT politicians Secretaries of State of California University of California, Berkeley alumni University of California, Davis alumni LGBT people from California