NEWPORT NEWS — Democratic Sen. John Miller won a third term in Richmond on Tuesday, besting a challenge from Republican attorney Mark Matney.
Complete unofficial results from the State Board of Elections show Miller with 17,981 votes, or 59.3 percent of the ballots cast, to Matney’s 12,276 votes, or 40.5 percent.
“This election was really a referendum on my past eight years of service to the people of Virginia,” Miller said by phone while celebrating with supporters at Steve’s Steakhouse. “It reinforces the notion that I need to keep fighting to improve education, to protect our children and the environment, and to advocate commonsense solutions to the problems that we face.”
He also said his victory “speaks to the fact that voters are looking for people who are problem solvers and reach across the aisle and build consensus in a bipartisan way.”
Miller said he was “confident throughout the process,” but that he “never took anything for granted.”
“We reached a lot of people and worked very hard,” he said. “With off-year elections, anything can happen.”
The Senate district includes Williamsburg, most of Newport News and parts of James City, York, Suffolk and Hampton.
Miller, 67, is considered a moderate in the Senate Democratic caucus.
He has often championed education, pushing to reduce standardized testing in public schools and advocating for more money for K-12 schools. He has also worked on a coalition to mitigate sea-level rises, endorsed redistricting form and tried to reign in payday lenders.
Miller, a father of two adult children, also successfully pushed for two bills that did away with two key measures sought by former Gov. Bob McDonnell: an A-to-F grading system for public schools and a state agency to take over failing schools.
“When you say a school is a C or a D or an F, kids will start saying I’m just a C kid or I’m just a D kid,” Miller said recently. “What’s important is to ensure we have strong and vibrant public schools.”
Matney, 48, a father of three school-age children, lives in Williamsburg, bases his law practice in Newport News, and holds a divinity degree in addition to his law degree.
During the recent campaign, he has advocating doing more for education and sought to diversify the economy.
Matney said the state should take over failing public schools, and he pushed for reforms toward school choice, such as by providing financial assistance to families who send their children to private schools or home school their children.
“If you don’t do one or the other, what you’re saying is some kids are just going to be stuck in bad schools,” he said.
Matney broke with many of his fellow Republicans by opposing mandatory minimum sentences, saying he’d like to bring his experience as a lawyer and what he’s learned from his religious faith to the General Assembly’s work of writing criminal laws.
“The biblical principle is, mercy tempers judgment,” he told the Daily Press. “If I were a judge, I’d probably be considered lenient.”
Both agreed on the need to rein in payday lenders, with Matney supporting Miller’s push to cap the triple-digit interest rates on many pay day loans at 36 percent
Dujardin can be reached at 757-247-4749
Virginia Senate, 1st District
John Miller, D: 59.3 percent
Mark Matney, R: 40.5 percent
