ATLANTA — A powerful Republican state senator announced Tuesday he will run for Lieutenant Governor. Butch Miller has held the senate seat from Gainesville since 2010 and is now the Senate's highest-ranking member.
"We are in a pivotal moment in Georgia," Miller said, referring to the GOP's loss of two US senate seats and the presidential race in November 2020.
The lieutenant governor seat is being vacated by the incumbent, Republican Geoff Duncan – who is stepping aside after running afoul of former president Donald Trump.
Savannah Republican activist Jeanne Seaver previously announced a run for Lt. Governor. Two Democratic state representatives, Erick Allen and Derrick Jackson, are also running.
Though the office of lieutenant governor is part time and has very limited duties, it will have high visibility in next year’s statewide election.
The lieutenant governor’s job is mostly to wield a gavel and set the agenda in the state senate. But Lt. Governor Duncan turned his profile into a flashpoint over the post-election drama of 2020 – and Trump’s debunked claims of election fraud.
Duncan has made repeated appearances on cable news programs – denouncing Republican efforts to re-write the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
Miller knows the 2022 Georgia election will have a national flavor.
"I am very enthusiastic and very supportive of President Trump’s policies," Miller said, citing tax cuts, cuts in business regulation, and criminal justice reform.
In the state Senate, Miller has championed numerous conservative causes, including 2019's "heartbeat" abortion bill.
Miller says Republican constituents sometimes ask him if the election was stolen, and he answers by saying "Joe Biden is our president. Was there fraud and malfeasance in the election? There certainly was. The degree of which is being corrected by Senate Bill 202," the election reform bill.
Sen. Miller stops short of describing any election fraud as widespread.
Miller was the presiding officer in the senate after Duncan walked out rather than preside over the passage of the election bill in March.
Miller says he's aware many Republican voters are clinging to conspiracy theories about the election, and warns "if Republicans do not unite, they cannot win. That’s the bottom line right there."