Miller gets GOP nod for assessor

The race is on once again. The only countywide primary contest was settled in August with a decisive win by the former county assessor seeking to reclaim the seat he was forced from because of term limits.

Steve Miller won the Republican nomination to seek the assessor's seat with 8,996 votes, or nearly 57.5 percent of the votes cast. Larry Johnson, the incumbent and Miller's former deputy, received 6,657 votes, or nearly 42.5 percent.

Turnout is difficult to precisely determine. The election was open only to registered Republicans or unaffiliated voters declaring as Republicans to vote in the primary--and it's unknown how many did so. The turnout represented 17.7 percent of the total 148,355 eligible voters in the county, or 24.5 percent of only the eligible Republican and unaffiliated voters.

Miller now faces Democrat Barbara Liebler and Libertarian Jesse Herron in the Nov. 7 election.