$ Onondaga County Court Judge: Miller for GOP

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To pay for his campaign for Onondaga County court judge, Republican Tom Miller  is tapping his connections in the legal profession.

That’s typical for judges, said Kristie Andersen, a political scientist at Syracuse University. Judges, she said, typically reach out to “whoever’s in their network.”

Andersen added, “It doesn’t mean that other people don’t support him.”

Miller, 58, is a justice in the village of Fayetteville. Miller is the Republican candidate running against Democrat Gordon Cuffy, the county’s attorney. Onondaga County judges serve 10-year terms and earn  $147,100 a year. County court judges handle civil suits, all lawsuits under $15,000 or less, misdemeanor cases such as DUI, fraudulent checks and domestic violence cases and people on their way to jail in “first appearance court”.

Election Day is Nov. 6.

Here are some of the highlights of Miller’s campaign finances, from reports filed with New York State Board of Elections:

  •  As of Oct. 27, Miller raised $99,934 from April 20, 2012, to Oct. 24, 2012.
  • 75 percent – $74,545 – is from 198 named individual donors. His top three individual donors gave $1,000 each. They are Stanley Germain, Stephan Davis and Ed Menkin.
  • At least 35 percent – or $34,539 – of Miller’s campaign contributions came 91 lawyers.
  • 18 percent – or $17,748 – is from 54 corporate donors. His top three corporate donors also all gave $1,000 each. They are Zimmer Law Offices, JAS Electric, and My Classic Car Wash.

His campaign spending has gone largely for TV advertisements. Among his spending:

  •  He spent $54,345.
  • Of that, 77 percent — or $41,689 — went to pay for TV advertisements.
  • And 3 percent — $1,660 — on his campaign website.
  • As of Oct. 27, Miller had $43,111 on hand.

Miller contributed to his campaign with a loan of $10,000, according to the state campaign finance reports.  “It goes towards the basic costs of a campaign,” Miller said. Most of the money is spent on advertisements such as posters, handbills and his website, he said.

Attorney Ed Menkin is one of Miller’s donors. He knows Miller through the Onondaga Bar Association and as a practicing lawyer, he said. He sometimes worked with Miller on cases.

“Tom was a guy that I frequently looked to bring into a case, because his experience, his reputation, and his integrity,” Menkin said.

(Janine Mack is a graduate student majoring in broadcast and digital journalism.)

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