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<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nGeorge Miller defeated Delegate Daryl Cowles 1,675 (52 percent) to 1,550 (48 percent) in the Republican primary. He will face Democrat Tom Harden in November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At a candidates\u2019 forum last month sponsored by WRNR<\/a>, Miller was asked by David Welch \u201cwhat\u2019s your message to Republican voters when you have virtually every one of the labor unions who favor Democratic policies supporting you \u2013 how do you expect to talk to Republican voters in a way that would defeat Daryl Cowles?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI feel very honored for that,\u201d Miller said. \u201cI\u2019ve been in unions. I know what they are. I know how they work. They have backed me. I will back them. I will tell the Republican Party that I will do what I think is right. I will talk with you. I will use your input to make decisions. But if the unions need me, I will stand shoulder to shoulder with them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cowles defended his party’s generally anti-union positions \u2013 including prevailing wage, right to work and charter schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miller said he was not in favor of charter schools, he was in favor of prevailing wage, but he was against right to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miller was asked about his life\u2019s history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m originally from Pennsylvania,\u201d Miller said. \u201cI started by getting into officiating. That gave me a good way to look at things fairly. I\u2019m 67. I ran a home improvement business for twenty some years before going to school to work. I needed retirement. That\u2019s why I was there. And I was there for 32 years. I ended up as a maintenance supervisor in Morgan County. I taught Sunday School, men\u2019s class. I continued my officiating down here, just the basketball side of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUsing that and using the licenses I have, I think I would be a good candidate for the position, knowing the construction side as well as the school law side.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miller was asked by Joe Ferretti \u2013 what did you learn on those jobs that will give your constituents confidence that you will be an effective delegate for them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat I learned \u2013 listen to people,\u201d Miller said. \u201cI needed to listen to them on the job. You have to be up front with people from the get go. And if you are, you won\u2019t have any problems. I\u2019m letting the people know what I stand for and then go from there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miller was asked \u2013 first day of the legislature \u2013 what would you do to improve the quality of education?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m going to be lost when I go to Charleston,\u201d Miller said. \u201cI\u2019m going to try to hit the ground running. Education is a very big thing. We need it. We\u2019ve all been there. I can\u2019t see bringing in charter schools when the state is going to have to take care of them anyway. The teacher salary is the biggest thing. They need more money. You can go ten minutes either way here and make $7,000 or $8,000 more a year. We need to upgrade the teachers\u2019 pay here and stand behind them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen I went through school, I did enough just to get through. Looking back, that was the wrong thing to do.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Working in the schools, Miller said, \u201cI got a lot of time to talk with the children.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey will open up to you and they will let you know what is going on in the schools. Using that information that I obtained from the kids and working around them and working with the administrators, I got a pretty good idea of what\u2019s going on there.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you want something, you are going to have to pay for it. Are you going to buy a jacket from Wal-Mart to go to a big show? Or are you going to stop at a men\u2019s store and pick up a jacket? No brainer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rob Mario asked Miller \u2013 what is your main reason for challenging Daryl Cowles?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI lost a son to opioids,\u201d Miller said. \u201cI would like to work on that. It\u2019s very close to me of course. He had difficulty though his whole life. I don\u2019t know what happened. Obviously, he took the wrong turn. It cost not only him, but us the heartache there. And we need to do something about that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cowles has been a big proponent of the controversial 522 bypass around Berkeley Springs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miller pushed back against that position in his closing statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are other roads that need repair,\u201d Miller said. \u201cThe trucks are getting heavier. The loads are getting heavier. The trucks are getting longer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI have never held an office before,\u201d Miller said. \u201cA lot of people are helping me through this thing.\u201d In Berkeley Springs, a union backed Republican pulled off one of the biggest upsets in West Virginia\u2019s primary yesterday. George Miller defeated Delegate Daryl Cowles 1,675 (52 percent) to 1,550 (48 percent) in the Republican primary. He will face Democrat … Continue reading
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