William Miller (Oregon)

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William Miller

Nonpartisan

Mt. Hood Community College District Board of Education, Zone 2

Tenure

2025 - Present

Term ends

2029

Years in position

0

Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last elected

May 20, 2025

Education

Associate

Mt. Hood Community College

Bachelor's

Oregon State University, 2016

Personal

Birthplace

Gresham, Ore.

Religion

Christian

Profession

Legislative aide; Advocacy and community engagement manager

Contact

Campaign website

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

William Miller is a member of the Mt. Hood Community College District Board of Education in Oregon, representing Zone 2. He assumed office on July 1, 2025. His current term ends on June 30, 2029.

Miller ran for election to the Mt. Hood Community College District Board of Education to represent Zone 2 in Oregon. He won in the general election on May 20, 2025.

Biography

William Miller was born in Gresham, Oregon. He attended Mt. Hood Community College and Oregon State University for his undergraduate degree, which he obtained in April 2016. His professional experience includes working as a legislative aide to Oregon House of Representatives Rep. Tawna Sanchez (D-District 43) and as an advocacy and community engagement manager for the Native American Youth and Family Center.

Elections

2025

See also: Municipal elections in Multnomah County, Oregon (2025)

General election

General election for Mt. Hood Community College District Board of Education, Zone 2

William Miller won election in the general election for Mt. Hood Community College District Board of Education, Zone 2 on May 20, 2025.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		William Miller (Nonpartisan)	96.9	6,022
		Other/Write-in votes	3.1	192

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2 Source 3	Total votes: 6,214
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Miller in this election.

2020

See also: Oregon House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Oregon House of Representatives District 50

Ricki Ruiz defeated Amelia Salvador in the general election for Oregon House of Representatives District 50 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ricki Ruiz (D / Independent / Working Families Party)	53.6	15,662
		Amelia Salvador (R)	46.3	13,526
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	35

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 29,223
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Oregon House of Representatives District 50

Ricki Ruiz defeated William Miller in the Democratic primary for Oregon House of Representatives District 50 on May 19, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ricki Ruiz	66.0	4,084
		William Miller	33.1	2,048
		Other/Write-in votes	0.9	53

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 6,185
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Oregon House of Representatives District 50

Amelia Salvador advanced from the Republican primary for Oregon House of Representatives District 50 on May 19, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Amelia Salvador	98.6	3,059
		Other/Write-in votes	1.4	44

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,103
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2025

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

William Miller did not complete Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Video for Ballotpedia

Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released April 23, 2020

William Miller completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Miller's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Hi, my name is William Miller and I am running to be your State Representative for House District 50, which includes parts of Gresham and East Portland. First, I've grown up in East County, I've been through it's schools, including higher education at MHCC. I grew up in a family that struggled financially, with the criminal justice system, with addiction, and with many other issues that are not uncommon for the people that call House District 50 home. I seek to bring these experiences, my identities as a gay Native American Man, and my background in advocacy and activism to deliver real change for my community.

I currently work as the Advocacy Manager at the Native American Youth and Family Center in Portland. Before this, I worked as a Legislative Aide to State Representative Tawna Sanchez. My current equity work advancing policies on behalf of indigenous peoples, and my past experience working at the state capitol both uniquely equip me to deliver for those underserved and not heard in the political and policy making process.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Education: Improving equity and access from kindergarten to higher education
• Reform and investment in: Criminal Justice, Mental Health Services, and addiction assistance.
• Creating quality and affordable housing.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

As I have mentioned before, from experiences in my own life, I am deeply passionate about equity issues, and ensuring every child and family can have the success and opportunity they deserve. I was very fortunate to receive support from many mentors and peers along the way that helped me, but not everyone is fortunate enough to get that experience. I have selected the themes of my campaign from personal experience, but also because they are critical factors in the success of our East County communities.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

I would argue that integrity is one of the most important characteristics elected officials can bring to their job. To me, integrity is using your internal sense of right and wrong, and having your actions match that. Leadership with integrity is accountable to voters and citizens, is transparent and communicative, and is compassionate. Leaders must also serve with integrity too -- seeking to uplift and support their communities over themselves.

I also think leaders need to be bold, but also listen to one another. From my experiences working on state and federal policy, I have found that members of both parties do not spend enough time listening to each other. I seek to be bold in what I push for, while looking for opportunities to partner with other legislators to deliver real change.

Lastly, I think elected officials must be principled in demanding a stronger democracy for themselves and their constituents. Expanding voting rights and access, stronger public records laws, campaign finance reform and donation limits, and electoral reform are all critical in creating a stronger democracy for Oregon, and for the Nation. I think these issues are fundamental to allowing our democracy to work better, have elected leaders that are effective, and improve our government overall. Beyond the other issues I plan on advocating for, I see this principle to always improve democracy as vital.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I think I possess a detailed understanding of the many struggles and issues Greshamites and Oregonians continue to face. As I mentioned before, I have had many unfortunate and deeply personal experiences in my life that give me unique insight into what it's like to struggle: from rent, to food, addiction, physical and mental health issues, and so on. I was very fortunate to have a hardworking mother, many services, mentors, and other support mechanisms to help me find success for myself despite these things. Not everyone is as fortunate though.

This realization has caused me to integrate service into every aspect of my life: from my church, to local community involvement, and activism and advocacy on the local, state and federal levels. This service oriented leadership is a quality I always seek to improve upon, but I see it as an essential part of who I am. Likewise, from my own identities I won't stop being outspoken on issues that affect fellow members of my LGBQT+ and Native American communities.

I also know it makes you a more effective legislator: if you can use your story and voice to lift up others, you can help enrich the policy conversation and share perspectives that can often be ignored. For these reasons, House District 50s current State Representatives Carla Piluso endorsed me, along with so many other trusted community organizations such as the American Federation of Teachers (AFT-Oregon), the Oregon League of Conservation Voters (OLCV), and State Representative Tawna Sanchez.

What do you perceive to be your state’s greatest challenges over the next decade?

While the region as a whole was economically booming, that boom and wealth was not always felt out in East County. The growth, both in population and in the economy has not been even. The disparities that existed prior to the COVID-19 Crisis will only be made worse now. Therefore, the state's greatest challenge over the next decade is ensuring 1) the health of our communities, but in the long run 2) Rebuild Oregon's economy. The second item must be done in a way that centers equity and justice, as we know that Oregon's low income communities, and our communities of color continue a disproportionate impact within the context of the COVID-19 Crisis, and before it. Investing in these communities first over corporations is vital.

This is also a vital opportunity to use recovery and stimulus efforts to reshape our economy. We need an economy that better supports all workers, and one that works to decarbonize and reduce our environmental impact as a state. Oregon has been, and continues to be a leader in environmental policy -- from public beaches, to the bottle bill, to our land use system. Oregon is an innovator, and we should use this unfortunate event as an opportunity to set Oregon on a new course of climate action. At the same time, we need to be advocating for economic reform that supports our workers, and helps make things like housing and healthcare affordable and accessible to all. It could be very easy to return to business as usual after the COVID-19 crisis, but I believe we must use this opportunity to support families, workers, and our marginalized communities.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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Candidate

Mt. Hood Community College District Board of Education, Zone 2

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