Drew Wilson
A second Democrat filed Monday to take over term-limited Democratic Rep. Dwayne Taylor’s District 26 seat in the Florida House, setting up a primary battle for the left-leaning seat.
Former Daytona Beach City Commissioner Steve Miller joins current commission member Patrick Henry, a Democrat, and Republican Michael Cantu, a small business owner who got 47 percent of the vote against Taylor last cycle.
Miller, who works as a tax consultant, was on the commission in the early 1990s and he attempted to get back on in 2014, though a circuit judge had his name removed from the ballot for not living in the zone he was campaigning in.
During that campaign, Miller changed his voter registration address between a few different rental properties and his business’s office address. Miller said he never claimed to live at the business and just wanted to use it as a mailing address. At the time, Volusia County Supervisor of Elections Ann McFall said Miller was “making a mockery of the system.”
His run for the legislature seems just as murky. Miller is the registered agent for many businesses, and Florida Department of State business registration records show he has used several mailing addresses within Volusia County, a few of which are residential properties within District 27, held by Republican Rep. David Santiago’s.
Within hours of filing for the District 26 seat, Miller changed the address on his campaign account to the address he said he used for his tax business last year. Volusia County records list the structure as a mixed-use building owned by Miller’s company, Ackmill, Inc.
Miller will have to face Henry in next year’s primary election. The Zone 5 commissioner filed for the seat Aug. 26 and initial fundraising numbers for his campaign are due Sept. 10. Cantu, who filed in January, has raised $1,565 so far. In his 2014 bid, he brought in about $3,000 in contributions with another $2,300 in loans to his campaign.
