Harris Miller

Harris N. Miller is an American businessman, lobbyist, and one-time political candidate. He was formerly the president of the Information Technology Association of America and the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA).[1] On June 13, 2006, he lost the Democratic primary in the Virginia U.S. Senate election to Jim Webb.

Harris Miller
Born
Western Pennsylvania, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Pittsburgh (B.A.)
Yale University (MPhil)
Political partyDemocratic

Early life, education, and family

Harris Miller was born in Western Pennsylvania. His parents had mixed success running grocery stores, a car wash, and other small businesses.[2] He attended the University of Pittsburgh where he received an undergraduate degree in political science and philosophy in 1972. He received a Master of Philosophy in political science from Yale University in 1975. Miller married his wife Deborah in 1980. They have two grown children, Derek and Alexis.

Career

After graduating from college, Miller was an aide on the United States House Committee on the Judiciary, a legislative director for former U.S. Senator John A. Durkin (D-N.H.); the Deputy Director of Personnel Management for Congressional Relations in the Carter Administration, and a legislative assistant for the Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and International Law.

In the early 1980s, Miller acted as government relations director for Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, a nationwide law firm specializing in immigration. He was also president of Immigration Services Associates, a government relations firm based in Washington, D.C. He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for a House seat in Virginia in 1984. He operated his own government relations firm, Harris Miller & Associates, with clients in high tech, agriculture and banking.

In 1995, Miller became President of the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA). Miller, representing ITAA, provided Congressional testimony in favor of increases in the H-1B visa quotas and supporting the international outsourcing of IT work.[3] Because of this, he came under fire during his later Senate campaign from an IT worker association and organized labor groups.

From 2007 to 2011 he was president of the Career Colleges Association, the umbrella government relations group for 1,400 for-profit vocational schools in the United States.[4][5]

Miller has been a friend and business associate of former Governor Mark Warner. He has served as President of the Northern Virginia Board of Governors for Virginia Opera. He also serves on the board of trustees of the Code of Support Foundation, a nonprofit military services organization.[6]

Campaign for Senate

Miller was the first to announce a bid to be the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate against first-term Republican Senator George Allen.[7] While his support was strong among the local Virginia party activists who weigh heavily in primaries, it was not enough to triumph over his late-entering primary opponent, James Webb, who benefited from a strong military background, the support of well-known blogs such as the Daily Kos, and the endorsements of several national Democratic leaders. These endorsements for Webb, including that of Chuck Schumer, head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, were unusual for a primary and reflected Webb's perceived strengths as a candidate over Miller's.[8]

One newspaper columnist dismissed Miller as "a Republican strategist's dream opponent. He's as charismatic as a toaster, wonkier than Al Gore and as proudly liberal as Al Franken. And at just about the worst time ever to be one, he's a lobbyist. He's a total contrast to Allen; no cowboy boots or chewing tobacco here."[9]

The primary campaign was occasionally acrimonious, with Miller faulting Webb as a Democrat-come-lately who in 2000 voted for George W. Bush and endorsed Allen, and Webb criticizing Miller as an IT lobbyist who exported American jobs, at more than one point saying, "you've been called the Antichrist of outsourcing."[10] After his loss, Miller affirmed his support for Webb as the Democratic candidate in the upcoming general election. He said he had "no regrets" and was taking some time off to think about his next move.[11]

References
  1. "ITAA President Quits, May Run For Senate". InformationWeek. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
  2. "Democrat's Bid Begins With a Salvo". Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
  3. "Miller Defends Lobbying Stances". Washingtonpost.com. 2006-06-09. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
  4. Peter S. Goodman, In Hard Times, Lured Into Trade School and Debt, New York Times, March 13, 2010
  5. Samuel Knight, Why Did Harris Miller Resign?, Washington Monthly, June 21, 2011 Archived May 11, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Code of Support Foundation advisory board". codeofsupportfoundation.org. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2005-11-21. Retrieved 2019-04-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. "Webb Picks Up Unusual Endorsement". Washingtonpost.com. 2006-06-08. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
  9. "Marc Fisher - Miller Is a High-Contrast Candidate for Senate". Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-07-11. Retrieved 2006-07-08.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-06-16. Retrieved 2006-07-09.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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