John C. Miller (December 9, 1947 – April 4, 2016) was an American journalist and politician. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, he was elected to the

Senate of Virginia The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Virg ...

in 2007, won re-election twice by increasing majorities, and died during his final term. He represented the 1st district on the

Virginia Peninsula The Virginia Peninsula is a peninsula in southeast Virginia, USA, bounded by the York River, James River, Hampton Roads and Chesapeake Bay. It is sometimes known as the ''Lower Peninsula'' to distinguish it from two other peninsulas to the ...

, which comprises the city of Williamsburg, parts of the city of

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, parts of York County,

James City County James City County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 78,254. Although politically separate from the county, the county seat is the adjacent independent city of Williamsburg. Located ...

and the cities of

Hampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia *Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region *Hampton, Victoria Canada *Hampton, New Brunswick *Hamp ...

and

Newport News Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

Early and family life

Born in

Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania Bryn Mawr, pronounced , from Welsh for big hill, is a census-designated place (CDP) located across three townships: Radnor Township and Haverford Township in Delaware County, and Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It i ...

on December 9. 1947, Miller graduated from

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois. It was founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895, by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld as part of an expansion of the state's system ...

with a bachelor's degree. He married and had a daughter and son.

Career

Miller worked as a reporter and later was the anchorman at

WVEC-TV WVEC (channel 13) is a television station licensed to Hampton, Virginia, United States, serving the Hampton Roads area as an affiliate of ABC. The station is owned by Tegna Inc., and maintains studios on Woodis Avenue in Norfolk; its transmitter ...

for 18 years. At WVEC, he became well known for treating those he interviewed with the same high level of deference, whether they were a school janitor or the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. After leaving Channel 13, he served as Director of Community Outreach for Orion Air. Previously, Miller worked for U.S. Senator

Paul Trible Paul Seward Trible Jr. (born December 29, 1946) is an American attorney, politician and academic administrator. Trible was the former president of Christopher Newport University until his retirement in 2021. He was a Republican politician from V ...

(a Republican), at

Christopher Newport University Christopher Newport University (CNU) is a public university in Newport News, Virginia. It was founded in 1960 and is named after Christopher Newport, captain of Susan Constant, one of the ships which carried settlers of Jamestown, Virginia, Jam ...

and public broadcasting station WHRO. He was also active in many community organizations, including Smart Beginnings of the Virginia Peninsula, People to People, and Peninsula READS, among other organizations. First elected to the Virginia Senate in 2007, John Miller was so widely liked by citizens from a both Democratic and Republican factions that he was able to win a seat previously considered to be easily controlled by the Republicans. He later won re-election in 2011 and 2015. In his last session Miller shepherded a major high school education reform bill to passage. In the Virginia Senate, Miller helped establish a bipartisan coalition known as the Commonwealth Caucus, especially to work on issues related to redistricting and education reform. Miller also worked to protect the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

, military families and to end childhood obesity.

Death and legacy

Miller was found dead in his home, of an apparent heart attack on April 4, 2016. He was survived by his wife, son, daughter and grandchildren. Two governors as well as many other dignitaries were among the hundreds of mourners at his funeral at First Baptist Church Denbigh. John Miller was among the now vanishing breed of political leaders in Virginia politics who cheerfully worked with both Democrats and Republicans in the Virginia Senate and in the House of Delegates to help improve the lives of his fellow Virginians.

References

External links

Senator John C. Miller
''official government site''
Senator John Miller
''official campaign site'' *
Campaign contributions
at the National Institute for Money in State Politics (2001 House of Delegates)
Profile
from ''Virginia Public Access Project'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, John Democratic Party Virginia state senators 1947 births 2016 deaths Politicians from Newport News, Virginia People from Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania American television journalists American male journalists Journalists from Virginia Northern Illinois University alumni 21st-century American politicians