Paula Jean Miller (born August 1, 1959) is an American politician. She was a Democratic member of the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

2005–2012, representing the 87th district in the city of

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

. She ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for the

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

to fill the seat being vacated by

Ralph Northam Ralph Shearer Northam (born September 13, 1959) is an American physician and former politician who served as the 73rd governor of Virginia from 2018 to 2022. A pediatric Neurology, neurologist by occupation, he was an officer in the Medical Co ...

, who was elected

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

of Virginia, in the Virginia Senate, District 6, representing portions of

, the Eastern Shore, and

Virginia Beach Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the List of cities in Virginia, most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeaster ...

. She lost to fellow delegate Lynwood Lewis.

Early life

Miller graduated from Attica Central High School in

Attica, New York Attica is a town in Wyoming County, New York, United States. The population was 1,846 as of 2023. The Town of Attica is on the northern boundary of the county and contains part of a village also named Attica (the northern part of the village ...

in 1977, then earned degrees in

mass communication Mass communication is the process of imparting and exchanging information through mass media to large population segments. It utilizes various forms of media as technology has made the dissemination of information more efficient. Primary examples o ...

s from Genesee Community College (1979) and speech communication from

SUNY Geneseo The State University of New York College at Geneseo (SUNY Geneseo, Geneseo State College or, colloquially, "Geneseo") is a public liberal arts college in Geneseo (village), New York, Geneseo, New York (state), New York. It is New York's public ho ...

(1981). She then began working locally in

broadcast journalism Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...

. In 1984 Miller and her husband, George Schaefer, moved to Norfolk, Virginia, where she became a reporter for WTKR-TV, the local

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

affiliate. Miller worked at WTKR until 1999, when she took over the public information office of the

Sheriff's Office. She subsequently held the same job with the Norfolk Sheriff's Office. Miller has two children, George Schaefer IV and Molly Schaefer. In 2007, George attended

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States, U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It comprises U.S. state, state, Territories of the United States, U.S. terr ...

Boys Nation Boys Nation is an annual forum concerning civic training, government, leadership, and Americanism that is run by the American Legion. One hundred Boys Nation Senators are chosen from a pool of over 20,000 Boys State participants, making it one of ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership's High School Leadership Program in

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the county seat, seat of government of Albemarle County, Virginia, Albemarle County, which surrounds the ...

Electoral history

Political career

Miller's husband, George Schaefer, became heavily involved in Norfolk Republican politics, serving as local party chair and making unsuccessful bids to unseat 86th district Delegate

George Heilig George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

in 1993 and 1995. Due to her TV news job, Miller's role in Schaefer's campaigns was severely limited. Schaefer switched political allegiances at the turn of the millennium and was elected Norfolk Clerk of Circuit Court as a Democrat in 2003. Now out of TV news, Miller was able to take an active role in his campaign. Delegate

Thelma Drake Thelma Day Drake (born November 20, 1949) is an American politician and former member of Congress for Virginia's 2nd congressional district. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, she served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 200 ...

, a Republican, was elected to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

in November 2004, creating a vacancy in the 87th district, where Miller's house was then located. She decided to run and was unopposed for the Democratic nomination. In the

on December 14, she narrowly defeated Michael Ball, the local Republican chair and a professional

fundraiser Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

for conservative

televangelist Televangelism (from ''televangelist'', a blend of ''television'' and ''evangelist'') and occasionally termed radio evangelism or teleministry, denotes the utilization of media platforms, notably radio and television, for the marketing of relig ...

Pat Robertson's

Regent University Regent University is a Private university, private Christian university in Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States. It was founded by Pat Robertson in 1977 as Christian Broadcasting Network, Christian Broadcasting Network University and chang ...

. Miller stressed the need for bipartisan solutions to such issues as transportation and the environment, in the manner of Democratic

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Mark Warner Mark Robert Warner (born December 15, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Virginia, a seat he has held since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Warner served as the 69th gove ...

; Ball emphasized his conservative credentials and his potential for delivering for the district as a member of the House majority. In 2005 she won reelection in a three-way race with Ball and

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

John Coggeshall, a local lawyer, cabaret entertainer and radio talk show host. In 2007 she defeated retired

Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

Henry C. "Hank" Giffin III, and in 2009 she defeated Republican John Amiral, a former Navy officer, to return for her third term in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

. In 2011, Miller was

redistricted Redistricting in the United States is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries. For the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each ten-year census. The U.S. Constitution in Art ...

into House district 100 along with fellow Democrat Lynwood Lewis. She did not run that year. The 87th district, which was moved to northern Virginia, was won by Republican David Ramadan. Miller considered a run for

Lieutenant Governor of Virginia The lieutenant governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia is a constitutional officer of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The lieutenant governor is elected every four years along with the governor and attorney general. The office is currently held ...

in 2013, but chose not to. Following

's election as Lieutenant Governor, Miller announced she would run to be the Democratic nominee in the

for Northam's seat in the

Virginia Senate 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 ...

Notes

References

Virginia House of Delegates: Bio for Paula J. Miller (2008 session)Official website
*

Virginia State Board of Elections The Virginia State Board of Elections (SBE) was created in 1946 as a nonpolitical agency responsible for ensuring uniformity, fairness, accuracy and purity in all elections in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. The SBE promote ...

: Election Results for 87th House District
November 6, 2007 General Election

December 14, 2004 Special Election

External links

Virginia Public Access Project: Paula MillerVirginia Beach Sheriff's Office
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Paula Jean 1959 births Living people Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates Politicians from Norfolk, Virginia Women state legislators in Virginia State University of New York at Geneseo alumni People from Batavia, New York 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century members of the Virginia General Assembly