Ken Miller is a Montana

Montana

Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...

 business owner and former Republican member of the Montana State Senate. He served as Chairman of the Montana Republican Party

Montana Republican Party

The Montana Republican Party is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in Montana. The party is led by Chairman William Deschamps and Vice Chair Christy Clark . The National Committeeman is Errol Galt and the National Committeewoman is Betti Hill...

 from 2001-2003 and is a candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor of Montana in the 2012 election.

Personal life

Miller was raised on a dairy farm in Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

 until 1974 when his family moved to Joliet, Montana

Joliet, Montana

Joliet is a town in Carbon County, Montana, United States. It is part of the Billings, Montana Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 575 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Joliet is located at .-Notable residents:...

. In 1979 he started a construction and roofing business which he ran with his wife until 2001. Currently he and his family operate Laurel Furniture Outlet in Laurel, Montana

Laurel, Montana

Laurel is a city in Yellowstone County, Montana, United States. It is part of the Billings, Montana Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is located in the Yellowstone Valley, as an east-west terminal division point of the Burlington-Northern Railroad.. The population was 6,781 at the 2010 census.Both...

.
In 1980 he married his wife, Peggy. The couple has two children, Max and Kyndall.

Political career

In 1994 Miller was elected to the Montana State Senate in a traditionally democratic district which was previously represented by Chet Blaylock

Chet Blaylock

Chester Merle "Chet" Blaylock was a U.S. politician born in Joliet, Montana. Blaylock served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Later he was a teacher for 30 years in Laurel and Chinook, Montana. He was a delegate to the Montana state Constitutional Convention in 1972 and a member of the...

; a respected Montana political veteran and the Democratic nominee for Governor in 1996. Miller served in the Senate for 8 years where he counts among his legislative accomplishments working to privatize state liquor stores and helping reduce the coal severance tax.
Miller also served as Chairman of the Montana Republican Party from 2001-2003 and saw significant majorities in both houses of the State Legislature.
In 2004, Miller sought the Republican nomination for Governor when Judy Martz

Judy Martz

Judy Martz was the 22nd Governor of Montana, having served a single term from January 2, 2001, to January 3, 2005. Earlier, she was the Lieutenant Governor under Marc Racicot from 1997-2001...

 announced that she would not seek a second term. In a crowded primary he garnered 22% of the vote in an election ultimately won by Secretary of State Bob Brown

Bob Brown (Montana politician)

Bob Brown was the Secretary of State for Montana and the Republican nominee for governor in 2004.As a young man, Brown was elected to Montana Legislature. Brown spent two years in the State House, 23 in the Senate and his final year in the Legislature as president of the Senate...

.

Political positions

Miller has gained a reputation as a conservative Republican; he is pro life and an advocate for Second Amendment Rights and lower taxes. He has also taken conservative positions on immigration, entitlements, education, and the federal government’s involvement in managing the wolf population in Montana. In a 2010 op-ed in the Billings Gazette

Billings Gazette

The Billings Gazette is the largest newspaper in Montana and Northern Wyoming. It is geographically one of the largest distributed newspapers in the nation....

, Miller called for Montanans to support a ballot initiative that would call for a Montana Constitutional Convention, calling the current document “conflicting and ambiguous.”