Scott Miller: Saving the World, One County at a Time

Scott Miller of Salt Lake County, Utah was screaming at President Obama on TV one afternoon when his 14-year-old daughter told him bluntly that if he didn’t like something, he should do something about it. Realizing the wisdom of his daughter’s words, Scott signed up for a Constitution class a few weeks later.

“It was a huge eye opener for me to learn why our Founders did what they did,” said Scott. “I drew a lot of correlations between the problems of their time and what is happening today.”

Soon after the Constitution class, he took an American Majority Activist Training, which was also an eye-opener to the possible influence he could have on local politics.

Upon engaging in his community for the first time, Scott was offered precinct chair. Scott went from precinct chair to legislative chair, However Scott became quickly disillusioned by the disorganization that existed within the local party and thought the whole business of local politics was comical. Just in time to prevent his resignation, he received a call from the current vice chair who told him there was an opening for a senate chair on the executive committee which he ran for and won.

“It was then that I realized I had enough capital to make a difference,” said Scott.

Scott ran for the Republican County Vice chair in spring of 2015 but it went differently than he expected. The number of hours spent on the campaign trail and talking to voters was exhausting.

“If you’re going to run for any position, be prepared to take it as a second full-time job. If you can’t put in that kind of effort, don’t bother. That’s the simple truth of it,” Scott said.

Scott won the race against his opponent by 64 percent. He spent $500 out of own pocket and only $150 from other people.

Scott credits his success with his honest approach. “I’m not a white-washer guy, I paint it like it is,” Scott said.

Scott calls his method of politics “information dissemination.” “Opponents use squabbles to push wedges between the Republican party. It’s important to me to educate all the voters of Salt Lake County with information that’s easy to access,” said Scott. “My passion is a well-informed populace.”

When asked for his campaigning advice, Scott told me that it is essential to have a crew of four or five solid people who can handle campaign logistics because no one person can do it all. He emphasized the importance of personal interaction, despite the occasional dead-end meeting and the barrage of irrelevant questions.

“You have to be present at the functions of the party of which you are running, because you have to buy booths and things like that to get your message out. I also did meet and greets at libraries. Sometimes they [meet and greets] worked, sometimes they don’t,” said Scott.

After years of his experience at the local level, Scott’s political journey is just beginning. He said, “I’m running to save the world, I’m just starting with Salt Lake County.”

As the current Salt Lake County Republican Party Vice Chair, Scott believes in the caucus system. He continues to hold to his vision of being honest with his constituents and bringing issues down to the county level.