Senator John Miller

For more than forty years, John Miller has been involved in our community. An award winning journalist, he spent 18 years at WVEC-TV reporting on the issues facing Hampton Roads. For six years he worked on the problems facing Virginia and the nation in the United States Senate as a top aide to Senator Paul Trible. John was a key administrator at WHRO, public broadcasting in Hampton Roads and at Christopher Newport University. In 2007, John was elected to the Senate of Virginia from the 1st District. John is Director of Community Development for Orion Air Group in Newport News.

John serves on three very important Senate Committees: Education and Health, Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and Local Government. In addition, John has been appointed to several key commissions. He chairs the Virginia Council on the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children and is vice chair of the State Water Commission. John also serves on the Joint Commission on Technology and Science and the Virginia Bicentennial of the American War of 1812 Commission. He has also been named to serve on the National Conference of State Legislators Education Committee.

John has also served on the Ft. Monroe Authority, the commission studying the future of the ports and the group examining the Hampton Roads Transportation Network. These assignments give John a strong voice in many of the major issues facing the Commonwealth.

John has a strong record of accomplishment in passing legislation. He wants to ensure every child in Virginia gets the very best education possible. He passed legislation calling for a study of the 3rd grade reading test scores in Virginia. That study is a blueprint to help the 20% of 3rd grades who are currently failing the test to be able to read at grade level. He passed legislation that allows veterans or active duty military who commit a non-violent crime because of post-traumatic stress disorder to be diverted from the criminal justice system and into the treatment they need. He made a common-sense change in the law that will increase the number of Virginia children who can be adopted.

John believes that to govern effectively, you must reach across the aisle. Neither political party has a monopoly on good ideas. Virginians are interested in performance and not partisanship. In 2009, John was a founder of the Commonwealth Caucus with 3 other freshmen senators – a Democrat and 2 Republicans. This bipartisan effort put Virginia above party affiliation on important issues – including redistricting, electing judges and protecting the Chesapeake Bay.

John and his wife Sharron are both very active in our community. He is currently a member of the marketing Committee of the Newport News Development Authority and serves of the Virginia Peninsula Children’s Literacy Foundation and Smart Beginnings of the Peninsula. He is also a member of People to People, an organization dedicated to improving race relations in Newport News. For two decades John has been an umpire in the Warwick Little League. He has also served on the board of Peninsula READS – the Literacy Council, the FoodBank of the Virginia Peninsula, the Newport News Youth Commission, Alternatives, the Newport News YMCA, the Junior League of Hampton Roads Advisory Board, the Downtown Hampton Child Development Center, the Newport News Alliance for Youth, Young Audiences and Hampton Bay Days.

Sharron, who was born and raised in Newport News, is a retired pediatric administrator. She currently serves as the First Congressional District representative on the Virginia Commission for the Arts,was recently appointed to serve as a Trustee for the Virginia Living Museum and serves on the Newport News Golf Advisory Committee. She is a member and past President of the Newport News Master Gardener’s Association and also served on the Newport News Public Works Citizen Advisory Committee and the USS Newport News Liaison Committee. Sharron has also helped raise money for many charitable events, including the Red Cross “Dress Down Under”.

John and Sharron live in Newport News. They have a daughter, Jenny and a son-in-law Mark and a son John and Daughter-in-law Mary Peyton and a grandson Isaac.