Three months after first announcing he was considering a run for the U. S. Senate, Congressman Jeff Miller has made his final decision.
Miller is dropping his Senate bid and instead, will seek an 8th full term in the House next year. In an email statement, he said he wants to focus on trying to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs. He also cited passage of his VA Accountability Act in the House, and its possible veto by President Obama.
Emails to Miller’s office seeking an interview were not returned. He announced in Pensacola last April that he was considering the campaign. Miller added that running for the seat being given up by Sen. Marco Rubio – who’s running for the Republican presidential nomination – could be the most expensive of his political career.
“Probably a $50 million-plus race,” said Miller. “And that is something I would have to decide, whether or not I in fact want to participate in at this time.”
Miller raised about $677,000 in the second quarter of this year, according to campaign finance records. In his statement, he said that he and his wife Vicki “have prayed about this for weeks, and we feel that we have come to the best decision.”
“It was going to be tough to have two strong candidates coming out of the Panhandle,” said Susan McManus, a political scientist at the University of South Florida. “Ron DeSantis was sort of out there first and raised a lot of money. So I’m not really surprised that Cong. Miller is going to stay where he’s at.”
McManus said another roadblock for Miller is name recognition, especially downstate. Another minus has been Miller’s ranking – or lack thereof – in recent major polls. His high water mark was 12% in a St. Petersburg Times poll. Most others have placed Miller either in single digits – or not registering at all.
Niceville State Sen. Don Gaetz, who is throwing his support towards Miller’s bid for re-election to the House.
“I think Jeff Miller would have been a great U.S. Senator,” Gaetz said. “I believe that it would have been important for northwest Florida to have his voice in the Senate.”
Gaetz had been mentioned as a possible Republican candidate for Miller’s House seat, had Miller entered the Senate race. Gaetz has denied he was planning such a run.
“I’ve never had a particular to go to Congress, I don’t really like Washington,” said Gaetz. “I think Congress is so dysfunctional that, as something of a doer, I think I’d be frustrated.”
Among the GOP candidates seeking to replace Marco Rubio are Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera and two congressmen – Ron DeSantis and David Jolly. On the Democratic side are two other congressmen -- Alan Grayson and Patrick Murphy.
