Ron Miller remains undecided about 2010

Ron MillerRon Miller (R-Huntingtown), who challenged Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller (D-Chesapeake Beach) in the 27th Legislative District in 2006, told PolitickerMD.com Monday that he has not decided if he will seek a rematch in 2010, one-week after the nine-term incumbent Democrat announced his plans to seek re-election.

"There are many factors that will determine whether or not I will run for office again in 2010, but Senator Miller's decision to seek a tenth term is not one of them," Ron Miller said.

The Republican, who lost to the Senate president by 41 points two years ago, serves as managing director for the Ambit Group, LLC, a technology and management consulting firm located in Reston, Virginia.

He said his 2010 plans would "depend first of all on my ability to keep my promise to my family to not adversely affect our personal finances."

"The second determining factor is whether or not I will have the resources and organization in place to run a viable campaign, regardless of who I challenge," he added, saying he could potentially seek a different office, as well.

In 2006, Miller was recruited by then Gov. Bob Ehrlich (R) to challenge the powerful Democrat. He had originally sought to unseat Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Mechanicsville) in Maryland's 5th Congressional District, but dropped out of the race in the summer at Ehrlich's insistence.

Miller served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Air Force through most of the 1990s, leaving in 2001 to take a position as a chief information officer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). He later worked for the White House, the Department of Homeland Security and the Small Business Administration, departing in 2004 to become an executive at an Arlington-based technology services firm.

He said the Senate president's "decision to run again does not surprise me, nor does it concern me," adding, "The conventional political wisdom in Maryland is that career politicians like Steny Hoyer and Mike Miller are untouchable, but they serve at the will of the people and those who differ with them should not be afraid of them."

"Here in Maryland, as in all the states of our Union, the people rule," Miller said. "Whatever my decision in 2010, I will always be here to remind my neighbors that the only way they lose power over their public servants is when they fail to use it."