Gary Miller, who has served as congressman in California’s 42nd Congressional District for nine years and was congressman in the 41st Congressional District for four years previous to that, will seek the Republican nomination this year in the newly drawn 31st District, he recently announced.
Miller’s residence is in Diamond Bar. The safely Republican 42nd encompasses all or portions of Chino, Chino Hills, Rowland Heights, La Habra, Brea, Yorba Linda, and Diamond Bar. The 31st District covers all or portions of Rancho Cucamonga, Redlands, Rialto, Loma Linda, Grand Terrace, Colton, Muscoy, Ontario and San Bernardino.
Miller remains a resident of Diamond Bar, which is now part of the new 39th Congressional District. He has opted not to run there, since Ed Royce, like Miller an incumbent Republican, is vying in that district.
Miller will not need to relocate into the new 31st Congressional District to run there. Many voters will be surprised to learn that unlike city, county, and state requirements for elected officials as well as federal requirements for senators and the presidency, there is no requirement that members of Congress reside in the district each represents.
According to the U.S. Constitution, a member of Congress must be at least 25 years old, a citizen of the United States for at least seven years, and an inhabitant of the state from which elected.
In Article I, section 2 the Constitution states: “No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.”
Congressional as well as state legislative districts are redrawn every 10 years following a U.S. census. California requires residency in legislative districts, but, like all states, cannot mandate the same of congressional candidates since the federal constitution trumps any state efforts.
Miller announced his candidacy in the 31st following an official announcement from Representative Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, that he will retire after 17 terms in Congress. Mr. Lewis, is the congressman from the current 41st District, a portion of which has been folded into the new 31st District.
Miller couched his announcement in terminology suggesting his candidacy in the 31st District will be a stand against the Democratic Party and an effort to change the complexion of the California Delegation.
“California is losing a tremendous amount of influence in Washington with the recent retirements of Jerry, [Republican California Congressman from Northern California] Wally Herger and [Republican Congressman from Central California] Elton Gallegly. There are serious challenges ahead if we are going to rein in out-of-control spending, fight President {Barack]Obama’s efforts to increase taxes and fix our economy,” Miller stated in a news release. “We are losing decades of seniority with these retirements and it will mean California’s congressional delegation has to work that much harder to protect California’s interests.”
The most immediate issue facing him in the effort, however, is obtaining the Republican nomination. Miller appears on course for a potentially bruising internecine GOP battle with current state senator Robert Dutton, who hails from Rancho Cucamonga, to capture the nomination.
Miller has more than $1 million in his campaign war chest. He is actively seeking more money for electioneering purposes, having retained the services of Revolvis Consulting to oversee his campaign.
But Dutton, who served two terms on the Rancho Cucamonga City Council, two years in the California Assembly and seven years in the California Senate, the last two as Republican leader, is no slouch either. He is the scion of the Dutton Family. His father, Ted, is a wealthy speculator, landowner and developer.
Whoever claws his way to the top of the Republican heap in the new 31st will not have a free ride in November. Previously, local GOP Congressman – Miller, Lewis, David Dreier – enjoyed the comfort and advantage of running in districts where the Republicans held a decided voter registration advantage over Democrats. That is not the case in the 31st which leans slightly in favor of Democrats.
While the GOP predominates in Rancho Cucamonga and Grand Terrace and holds a marginal lead in Redlands and Loma Linda, the cities of Rialto, Colton, Muscoy, Ontario and San Bernardino are Democratic bastions.
Among the Democrats, Redlands mayor Pete Aguilar and Renea Wickman are declared candidates for their party’s nomination.
Both Miller and Dutton believe they can win in November because of the Republican tendency for greater voter turnout and their relatively superior fundraising capability. Nevertheless, each will need to avoid a Donnybrook in which they bleed one another white in the race for the Republican nomination.