Mark F. Miller

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Mark F. Miller
16th district
In office
January 3, 2005 – January 4, 2021
Preceded byCharles Chvala
Succeeded byMelissa Agard
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the 48th district
In office
January 4, 1999 – January 3, 2005
Preceded byDoris Hanson
Succeeded byJoe Parisi
Personal details
Born (1943-02-01) February 1, 1943 (age 81)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseJo Oyama-Miller
Children3
Parents
  • Edward Ernst Miller (father)
  • Mary E. (Scoon) Miller (mother)
RelativesMidge Miller (stepmother)
Residence(s)Monona, Wisconsin, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison
WebsiteSenate website
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service
Years of service1966-1995
Rank Lt. Colonel, ANG

Mark F. Miller (born February 1, 1943) is a retired American politician. A Democrat, he served 16 years in the Wisconsin Senate (2005–2021) and was majority leader in 2012. He also served 6 years in the Wisconsin State Assembly.

Early life and family

Mark Miller was born in

Boston, Massachusetts, in 1943, but moved to Wisconsin as a child and graduated from Middleton High School in Middleton. His father, Ed Miller, worked as a professor at the University of Wisconsin. His mother died in 1961, and, in 1963, Miller's father married Marjorie Leeper, who would later become well known in Wisconsin politics as Midge Miller. Midge became a significant activist in Wisconsin, running the Wisconsin presidential primary campaign of U.S. Senator Eugene McCarthy in 1968, and serving 14 years in the Wisconsin State Assembly.[1][2]
Mark Miller later credited his stepmother's example as important in his decision to go into public service.

Miller joined the

amending its Constitution to ban same-sex marriages in 2006.[3] Miller and Jo have three children and reside in Monona, Wisconsin
.

Miller obtained his Bachelor's degree in 1973, at age 30, from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He worked in real estate and entered politics in 1996, when he was elected to the Dane County Board of Supervisors.

Political career

Miller in 2009

In 1998, Miller ran for Wisconsin State Assembly in a crowded Democratic primary to replace Doris Hanson, who had resigned to take a new job in the state government. Miller prevailed in the primary over Monona attorney Helen Marks Dicks, Madison city budget analyst Dan Bohrod, and Madison activist Barbara Pennington. In the general election, he faced Republican Madison consultant Kevin Miller, and won 68% of the vote in the Democrat-friendly district. Miller was re-elected in his Assembly seat in 2000 and 2002, and continued his education during this time, attending the Bowhay Institute for Legislative Leadership Development and the Flemming Fellows Leadership Institute.

In 2004 he seized an opportunity to run for the

16th district, where incumbent Charles Chvala was facing criminal indictment.[4] Miller faced fellow-Assemblymember Tom Hebl
in the Democratic primary and prevailed with about 58% of the vote.

Miller rose through the ranks in the Democratic caucus and was chosen as caucus chairman when the Democrats took the majority in 2007. Later that year, he became co-chair of the powerful Joint Finance Committee.[5]

2011 Wisconsin protests

Main article: 2011 Wisconsin protests

The

civil rights".[7][8]

A series of recall elections followed the Budget Repair Bill controversy, as Democrats were targeted for leaving the state and Republicans were targeted for the legislation itself. Miller was one of the senators subject to a recall movement. Organizers of the recall came within 268 votes of recalling him and had the option of merging their signatures with those collected by the Utah-based group American Patriot Recall Coalition in order to meet the minimum number of signatures required. However, the group decided not to do so because they claimed "the APRC is a front group for either wrecking conservative causes or for simple money making."[9]

Joint Senate Leader

Other recalls were more successful, and following the removal of two Republican senators in the

Scott L. Fitzgerald, the leader of the Republicans in the Senate, as co-leaders.[10][11] Democrats claimed the majority in July 2012 after a third Republican senator was defeated in a recall election, but as Republicans had already passed new redistricting legislation which locked in a majority through gerrymandering, the Democrats recall gains were wiped away in the 2012 general election. Miller stood down as leader after the election and supported the election of first term Milwaukee Senator Chris Larson as the Democrats' leader for the 2013-2014 session.[12]

Retirement

In January 2020, Senator Miller announced he would not seek re-election to a fifth term in the Senate. He left office in January 2021.[13]

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (1998, 2000, 2002)

Wisconsin Assembly, 48th District Election, 1998[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Primary Election, September 8, 1998
Democratic
 		Mark F. Miller 3,024 30.08%
Republican
 		Kevin Miller 2,547 25.34%
Democratic
 Helen Marks Dicks 2,352 23.40%
Democratic
 Dan Bohrod 1,715 17.06%
Democratic
 Barbara Pennington 414 4.12%
Total votes 10,052 100.0%
General Election, November 3, 1998
Democratic
 		Mark F. Miller 13,498 68.44%
Republican
 Kevin Miller 6,224 31.56%
Total votes 19,722 100.0%
Democratic hold

Wisconsin Senate (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016)

Wisconsin Senate, 16th District Election, 2004[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Primary Election, September 14, 2004
Republican
 		Eric P. Peterson 9,267 38.54%
Democratic
 		Mark F. Miller 8,582 35.69%
Democratic
 Tom Hebl 6,170 25.66%
Scattering 26 0.11%
Total votes 24,045 100.0%
General Election, November 3, 2004
Democratic
 		Mark F. Miller 58,147 60.04%
Republican
 Eric P. Peterson 38,643 39.90%
Scattering 51 0.05%
Plurality 19,504 20.14%
Total votes 96,841 100.0%
Democratic hold

References

  1. ^ Nichols, John (April 17, 2009). "MIDGE MILLER, STATE LEGISLATOR AND POLITICAL DYNAMO, DIES AT 86". The Capital Times. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  2. ^ "Pioneering Wisconsin progressive Midge Miller, who helped women enter politics, dies at 86". St. Paul Pioneer Press. April 17, 2009. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  3. ^ "Equality for All" (Press release). Madison, Wisconsin: Senator Mark Miller. 2014. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  4. ^ Price, Jenny (October 19, 2002). "Chvala indicted on 20 felony counts State Senate majority leader to resign leadership post after charges". Racine Journal Times. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  5. ^ "Miller named new co-chair of powerful budget-writing committee". St. Paul Pioneer Press. November 1, 2007. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  6. ^ Barbour, Clay (November 16, 2010). "Wisconsin's new minority party will need public support to save key Democratic initiatives". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  7. ^ "'The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell' for Wednesday, March 9th, 2011". MSNBC. March 11, 2011. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  8. ^ Davey, Monica (March 10, 2011). "Wisconsin Senate Limits Bargaining by Public Workers". The New York Times. Chicago. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  9. ^ Erickson, Doug (April 29, 2011). "Merged signatures plan dropped, so recall effort against Sen. Miller ends". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  10. ^ Spicuzza, Mary (March 16, 2012). "Facing recall, Sen. Galloway retires from state Senate". The Capital Times. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  11. ^ Johnson, Jackie (March 16, 2012). "Retiring senator shakes up Capitol". Wisconsin Radio Network. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  12. ^ Craver, Jack (January 10, 2013). "Senior Senate Democrat rips party leader". The Capital Times. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  13. ^ Schmidt, Mitchell; Vetterkind, Riley (January 23, 2020). "Dane County Democratic Sen. Mark Miller announces retirement". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  14. ^ Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1999). "Elections in Wisconsin". In Barish, Lawrence S.; Meloy, Patricia E. (eds.). State of Wisconsin 1999-2000 Blue Book (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. pp. 880, 883. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  15. ISBN 0-9752820-1-8
    . Retrieved April 26, 2020.

External links
Wisconsin State Assembly
Preceded by Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 48th district
January 4, 1999 – January 3, 2005 		Succeeded by
Wisconsin Senate
Preceded by Member of the
16th
district
2005 – 2021 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Scott L. Fitzgerald
 Minority Leader of the
Wisconsin Senate
2011 – 2012 		Succeeded by
Scott L. Fitzgerald
Preceded by
Scott L. Fitzgerald
 Majority Leader of the
Wisconsin Senate
2012 – 2013 		Succeeded by
Scott L. Fitzgerald
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