ASHLAND — The pool of candidates vying for the newly created — and questionable — Ohio Statehouse District 67 seat grew last week when Melanie Miller announced her desire to run.
Miller, who is married to Ashland Mayor Matt Miller, said she brought the up the idea of running for the seat to her husband one night. She’s never run for public office, but has been exposed to it one way or another for many years.
“I just had a continual stirring and burden on my heart. Prayer is very important to me, it’s a priority. So as I prayed, the stirring grew and so did the excitement,” Miller said, adding her husband’s encouragement and support helped facilitate her decision.
Although she’s never been elected to an office, she relates pageantry — something she has lots of experience with — to politics.
“There’s a lot of similarities,” she said of politics and pageantries. “You have to be prepared to answer tough questions, have a platform that is passionate for you.
“There’s a service to others — politics is the same: it’s public service.”
Her exposure to pageantry began young, having three titles under her belt by the time she turned 25.
In 2002, she became Miss Brook Park, her hometown suburb of Cleveland. She was 16. Part of owning that title, she said, was serving as an ambassador to the city.
“I worked very closely with public servants as an ambassador. I always found that very interesting,” she said.
She graduated from Midpark High School, a public school in Middleburg Heights, in 2004. From there, she enrolled in Cleveland State University’s digital media and film production program. She minored in journalism.
“So it was a sort of custom degree for broadcast,” she said.
She landed a job with the CW Network as a freshman and continued with the broadcast company a year or two after graduating in 2008.
“I absolutely loved it,” she said of her time at the TV station. “On the side, I reviewed film and movies when they came out with Time Warner Cable’s weekly slot of Another Look at the Movies. She interviewed stars such as Will Smith, Tyler Perry and Halle Berry.
Her sophomore year, 2006, she won a spot on the Cleveland Cavaliers dance team — it was the same year Lebron James took the Cavs to the playoffs, ultimately losing in seven games to the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference’s semifinals.
The playoff run meant a longer season. She danced in 48 games that year.
“It was the hardest thing I’d ever done. It pushed my body in every way,” she was quoted as saying in a CSU Alumni Association write-up.
She went on to win Miss Ohio later that year and then entered the Miss America pageant.
In 2007, as she passed the crown to her successor, Roberta Camp, Ashland County Commissioner Matt Miller took the stage to propose.
The couple married later that year.
Melanie Miller said she still had a desire to compete. So she entered the Mrs. Ohio America pageant and won that in 2011 — who at 24 was more than a decade younger than the rest of the contestants.
She now works as the executive director of the Ashland County Pregnancy Care Center, a job she plans to hold if she’s elected. Prior to that she served as the Director of Youth Programming at the Salvation Army Kroc Center.
“(My job) is a strong part of my calling — protecting the innocent and the unborn,” Miller said. “And I’d make sure the work that I do is extended in the state. I’m a strong proponent that would protect the sanctity of life.”
Protecting the unborn and is one of her “guiding principles,” as outlined on her website. The other three include “freedom, education, pro business and strong families.”
“I believe all issues will fall under one of those four areas,” she said, adding her faith in God serves as the priority that will ultimately guide her decisions.
Miller currently also serves as an Advisory Board member for Ashland’s Salvation Army Kroc Center and as secretary of the Ashland County Ministerial Association.
Ohio will hold its primary election on May 3. Miller joins five others who have announced intentions to run for the seat.
Ron Falconi, the mayor of Brunswick, announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination in November, followed by Brunswick High School student Dakota Sawyer — who will be 18 by May 3. He announced his intention in early December.
Other people also interested are Drew Burge, a Democrat, and Terry Robertson, a Republican.
Matt Young, a Loudonville councilman, announced his run in November.
The 67th House district will, if it holds up in court, envelop all of Ashland County and parts of western Medina County.
