Longtime Georgia Democrat Zell Miller dies

Zell Miller, a former governor and U.S. senator from Georgia, died Friday after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 86. “My grandfather passed away peacefully surrounded by his family,” Bryan Miller, the CEO of the family’s foundation, said in a statement. “The people of Georgia have lost one of our state’s finest public servants.” The conservative Democrat served as Georgia’s governor from 1991 to 1999. He went on to represent the state in the U.S. Senate from 2000 until 2005. Miller decried the state of the Democratic Party during his last years in office. In 2004, he decided to endorse incumbent Republican President George W. Bush for reelection instead of Democrat John Kerry. Miller delivered the keynote address at the Republican National Convention that year. As governor, Miller was best known for his support of public education. He helped found the HOPE Scholarship program, which pays college tuition for Georgia students who maintain high grades in high school and through college. Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., noted 1.8 million Georgians have benefitted from the program: “His legacy will live on through them.”