Letter to the Editor: Miller’s behavior doesn’t represent kind, welcoming, friendly residents of district

When I moved to Piatt County, I signed up for Rep. Mary Miller’s newsletter.

Her latest newsletter was noticeably light on information about what she’s doing to lower consumer prices, support farmers, improve public schools or address the mass layoffs of civil servants. Nor did I see any announcements for town hall events where she could hear from the people she represents.

Instead, she chose to highlight her well-publicized bullying of Rep. Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender person to serve in Congress. Miller deliberately referred to her colleague as the “gentleman from Delaware” and continues to tout this as an accomplishment.

Put aside your views on trans individuals and remember that Mary and Sarah are co-workers. Would you ever intentionally humiliate your coworker in front of everyone else at work? Her behavior doesn’t represent the kind, welcoming and friendly residents of the district who I’ve encountered since moving here.

After reading her newsletter, I can only conclude that she is trying to distract us with culture war hot topics so we don’t notice how little she is doing to improve our lives, don’t notice her unwillingness to face the people she represents and don’t notice her inability to check President Trump and Elon Musk as they take away our services and ignore the U.S. Constitution. 

Surely, there are other qualified candidates in the district who can represent us. I would vote for anyone else who keeps their head down, focuses on what matters to our communities and shows some common decency.

Paul Winters
Monticello, Illinois