Tony Miller (born June 28, 1948) is an American attorney and former California Secretary of State. A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, 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 Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle S ...

, and volunteer firefighter.

Biography

Miller was raised in the small town of

Chester, California Chester (formerly Big Meadows) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Plumas County, California, United States. Chester is located on Lake Almanor, north-northwest of Quincy. The town is located along State Route 36. The US Postal Service ZIP ...

. He was elected student body president at his high school. He graduated

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

from the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The inst ...

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 A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

aide, criminal investigator, 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 March Kong Fong Eu ( Kong; March 29, 1922 – December 21, 2017) was an American politician. She was a member of the California State Assembly and went on to serve as Secretary of State of California. Early life and education Eu was born March ...

, Miller served as the Secretary of State's chief legal counsel (1976–81). In 1994, March Fong Eu resigned to become

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Ambassador to the

Federated States of Micronesia The Federated States of Micronesia (; abbreviated FSM) is an island country in Oceania. It consists of four states from west to east, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosraethat are spread across the western Pacific. Together, the states comprise a ...

, leaving Miller as Acting Secretary of State. As Chief Deputy Secretary of State, Miller built a solid reputation for smooth, efficient and fairly run statewide

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...

, 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 Michael K. Woo (born October 8, 1951), also known as Mike Woo, is an American politician and academic who was the dean of the Cal Poly Pomona College of Environmental Design, College of Environmental Design at California State Polytechnic Univers ...

, but lost in a very close general election to Bill Jones. In 1998, Miller ran in the Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor of California, but lost the nomination to the Assembly Speaker,

Cruz Bustamante Cruz Miguel Bustamante (born January 4, 1953) is an American politician. He previously served as the 45th lieutenant governor of California from 1999 to 2007, serving under governors Gray Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. A member of the Democra ...

. Miller then returned to private practice. After the

Help America Vote Act The Help America Vote Act of 2002 (), or HAVA, is a United States federal law which passed in the House 357-48 and 92-2 in the Senate and was signed into law by President Bush on October 29, 2002.United States Department of Justice Civil Rights ...

(HAVA) was passed by

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

in 2002, Miller was appointed by California Secretary of State

Kevin Shelley Kevin Francis Shelley (born November 16, 1955) is an American politician, who was the 28th California Secretary of State from January 6, 2003, until his resignation on March 4, 2005. Early life Shelley was raised in San Francisco, the only son ...

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 ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

and has been in a relationship since 1973. He and his husband live on a small farm in Sutter County, near

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within 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