Brian Miller

From reporter Jim Nintzel over at the Tucson Weekly, that CD 8 Congressional candidate Brian Miller, a Major and senior pilot in the United States Air Force Reserve, 45th Fighter Squadron at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, was elected to Chair of the Pima County Republican Party:

http://www.tucsonweekly.com/TheRange/archives/2010/12/11/miller-elected-gop-county-chair

Miller, who made his political debut with an unsuccessful campaign for the GOP nomination in Congressional District 8, hails from the Ron Paul wing of the party—in general, he’s a get-the-government-out-of-our-lives kind of guy who opposes taxes, government involvement in health care and all that. But he also wants to see the U.S. out of foreign entanglements in Afghanistan and Iraq and favors immigration-reform efforts over building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Miller suspended his CD 8 campaign on August 11, a few weeks before the August 24 primary, and threw his support behind fellow candidate former LD 30 State Senator Jonathan Paton, who lost to candidate Jesse Kelly in the primary. Kelly then lost to Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords by 4156 votes in the General Election.

In his final press release when he suspended his CD 8 campaign, Miller described himself as “a Constitutional conservative Republican” and that he had run his campaign on a “platform of limited government, individual freedom, and peace through strength.”

Miller replaces Bob Westerman, current Pima GOP Chair, who was an unsuccessful candidate against recently deceased Senator Jorge Luis Garcia for LD 27 State Senate in November, 2008.

I am sure we will be seeing a lot of Brian Miller on TV debating attorney Jeff Rogers, the Chair of the Pima County Democratic Party (who is expected to retain his position).

On KUAT Channel 6 tonight at 6:30 p.m. is the Arizona Illustrated televised debate between the two chairs of the Pima County Democratic Party (Jeff Rogers) and the Pima County Republican Party (Bob Westerman). Rogers is a practicing attorney, and Westerman is a retired manager at Raytheon Missile Systems. Westerman ran unsuccessfully for public office in November, 2008 for LD 27 State Senate.

Hear what they have to say as we head into Tuesday’s Arizona primary election. Their debate discussion is timely, and there’s not a lot of common ground between them.

Chairs of the lesser known Pima County Libertarian Party and Green Party of Pima County were not included. I wrote about these four political parties back in January (click here).

View this debate which is already online here: www.ondemand.azpm.org.

And for you Independents (with growing numbers in Arizona) you can choose to vote in the Democratic, Republican, or Green Party primaries on Tuesday. Both Rogers and Westerman do address the reasons for this increase in registration of “Independents” or “No Party affiliation”.

Vote wisely! Polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. If you have questions about your polling place call the Pima County Recorder’s Office at (520) 740-4330, or go online to www.recorder.pima.gov.

Jeff Rogers, Democratic Chair

Bob Westerman