Democratic Peoples republic of Kelvinsi wrote:Yaruqo wrote:Whew, I did it. It's been a while since I've done one of these apps, but I've tried to stick to RL trends for KS-3 and go from there.
NS Nation Name: Yaruqo
Character Name: Oliver Miller
Character Gender: Male
Character Age: 35
Character Height: 5' 8"
Character Weight: 162 lbs
Character Position/Role/Job: United States Representative of the 3rd Congressional District of Kansas (2019 - Present); Overland Park City Council Member for the 6th Ward (2013 - 2018)
Character Country/State of Birth: Kansas
Character State of Residence: Kansas
Character Party Affiliation: Democratic
Main Strengths: Strong local connections; personable and empathetic; emphasis on constituent services; "history making" election and re-election as Kansas's first LGBTQ Member of Congress has ensured continued fundraising support from a growing number of LGBTQ political action committees and power-building groups.
Main Weaknesses: His congressional district, which has been trending blue since 2016, is a target of state and national Republicans who aim to gerrymander it to a stronger Republican district and/or flip it red; while he has stronger bases of support in the major suburban areas of the district, the few rural areas swing too far to the right; many of his campaign promises may be unable to pass under a Republican Congress, could affect re-election chances.
Biography:
Oliver Miller was born to Timothy and Jocelyn Miller on February 12, 1986 in Overland Park, Kansas. An only child, his Methodist parents doted on him as he grew up, entertaining him and his various interests - from archaeology, to mythology, and ultimately history and politics. He was a loner in high school, with a small circle of friends. His eleventh grade American History teacher went above and beyond to foster Oliver's interest and helped cultivate in him a desire to teach social studies and civics and help other kids feel welcome at school. With a goal in mind, Oliver would enroll into the University of Kansas in the fall of 2004, where he would graduate with a Bachelor's in Secondary History & Government Education in the spring of 2008.
It was in the midst of his college years that Oliver felt that he was not quite like his classmates and friends. Sure, he felt more welcomed here with his a larger clique of nerds and Dungeons and Dragons players than he had through his childhood, but this feeling was deeper than that. He had a feeling that he liked men, but with the state of sexual education in Kansas and the Internet still in its relatively infant stages, he didn't really know how to comfortably explore his feelings in a comfortable or safe environment. So instead, he had thrown himself deep into his studies, hoping to excel and push aside these thoughts and feelings whenever they arose. For a time, it worked.
He earned his teaching certification for secondary social studies and began teaching as a secondary substitute teacher in one of the few resident school districts back in Overland Park in the fall of 2009, having taken odd jobs in the interim as he prepared for his certification. When the school district finally hired him as a full time teacher in 2010, he was excited to leave his mark. Much as he did with his tertiary studies, he threw himself into his role as a middle school social studies teacher, winning praise from the district and parents alike. He had a reputation for being patient with his students, dedicating time after school to help those who were struggling with assignments or subjects.
In 2010, he had volunteered for the then-Democratic incumbent who served as the U.S. Representative for the 3rd Congressional District of Kansas, Sandra Shore, primarily fundraising and canvassing. Despite the district containing both the Kansas City suburbs and Lawrence, the amount of anti-Baharia sentiment by 2010 had overwhelmed local Democratic efforts to maintain control of the district and, subsequently, the rest of the House of Representatives, resulting in the seat flipping to Republican Stephen Wooler after twelve years of Democratic control, who had painted himself as a moderate against "Baharia's communist policies," despite Congresswoman Shore being a Blue Dog Democrat. Shocked that his community would buy into what he perceived to be outright drivel, Oliver sought to improve civic education in his school and the wider school district. A year later, the Kansas State Legislature would redraw the maps after the 2010 census and cut Lawrence out from the 3rd Congressional District in a bid to strengthen now-Congressman Wooler's position. Oliver was further shocked at the naked hard-elbowed maneuvers of his parents' Republican Party. He lost faith that Republicans would play by the rules that Democrats bent over backwards to avoid breaking.
His frustrations with the system and the status quo would boil over in 2012, when he decided to run for the city council of Overland Park. Even though he had only been a teacher for a few years, he had seen firsthand that mental health care was taking a backseat on the municipal and school board levels of governance: students felt alone; bullying was on the rise, a trend coinciding with the rise of social media platforms; and mental health care resources were either delegated to teachers and guidance counselors at best, or neglected at worst. Since the laws of the city made it so that all municipal elections were nonpartisan, Oliver and his small, dedicated team of family members, friends, and Johnson County Democrats worked hard to set him apart from his challengers, emphasizing a platform that focused on improving mental health care in Overland Park, maintaining the city's fiscal responsibility by balancing low property taxes with smart investments, and increased spending in infrastructure and transportation spending to overhaul the city's roads and sewers. Oliver would win the race, securing his first 4 year term as one of two city council members of Overland Park's 6th Ward in the south of the city. On the city council, he championed programs to improve mental health care and mental health care in the city, urging his colleagues to remember that, "Not all wounds are visible, and we can only guess at the battles our families, friends, and colleagues are wrestling with." This initiative ultimately passed, and Councilman Miller would go on to sponsor and co-sponsor other pieces of legislation with some of his more liberal or center-left leaning colleagues on the council to push through projects that would make the city's downtown areas safer for pedestrians, introduce smart sewer programs to the city, and initiatives to set up green energy infrastructure. There were some victories, and there were some defeats - Oliver's bill to introduce a nondiscrimination ordinance that would expand protections to LGBTQ people was tabled when the mayor and city manager feared that Governor NotBrownback, who had a reputation of being a staunch Catholic and conservative, would sue the city on the grounds of "religious discrimination."
By the launch of Oliver Miller's re-election campaign in 2016, he had grown more confident in himself, who he was, and what that meant. First, he privately came out as a gay man to his parents, who maintained their love and unabashed acceptance of their son. A couple months after he launched his re-election campaign, he submitted an op-ed to the Kansas City Star, penning an open letter to his constituents. In the letter, he walked readers through his journey to self-awareness of his sexual orientation, touching on the loneliness he felt growing up; he guided them through his journey to accepting who he was; and finally, he declared that, "I look forward to continuing to serve you, unashamed, with nothing to hide, and with nothing to fear. Regardless of your decision on Election Day, know that being your Councilman has been one of the greatest honors of my life, and may God bless and keep you all." While the op-ed won him the odd glare from neighbors and community members, for the most part, many Overland Park residents fell into two camps, which Oliver summed up to friends into two statements: "Okay, and what are you going to do about our utilities?" and "I'm so happy for you! I love the gays!" Oliver would go on to win re-election that fall.
Continuing to focus on mental health, public safety, and infrastructure, Oliver would have continued into his second term without complaint had it not been for the election of President Arnold Wolf, who had lost the popular vote count in the Kansas 3rd by 1% to [NotHillaryClinton or ATB Character Here]. The suburbs that dominated the 3rd Congressional District of Kansas hadn't voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in years, and now, with a raving extremist at the head of the Republican Party, it appeared that Democrats had a shot to effect some change in ruby red Kansas, bit by bit. Oliver was encouraged by the DCCC, the Victory Fund, and local Democratic organizations to weigh a run against Congressman Stephen Wooler, who had taken a more stringent right wing position than he had initially begun with back in 2010. On December 18th, 2017, Oliver announced his intent to run for the Democratic nomination for congressional seat, entering a somewhat crowded Democratic primary. Oliver would ultimately push ahead and win the August 2018 primary with 38% of the vote, with the closest challenger, a former NotBernieSanders campaign surrogate in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary, snagging 34% of the vote. It is at this point that the campaign took a savage turn. A far-right conspiracy theorist popular in alt-right online spaces began to tweet and share social media posts that claimed that Oliver had abused children while he was a substitute teacher in 2009. The claims, like much of what the conspiracy theorist had declared before - including that a well known Democratic Senator had a steamy affair with a much younger Marine - were unsubstantiated, but it didn't stop the Wooler campaign from leaping on it, perhaps with the goal of depressing Democratic turnout and encouraging Wolfist supporters to turnout. The Miller campaign and Democratic campaign organs hit back hard against the Congressman, but Oliver himself, while privately distraught over the allegations, publicly focused on the issues with voters: he promised accountability for the Wolf Administration's oversteps and conduct; he would work with Kansas City area Members of Congress - Democrat and Republican - to get the Department of Transportation to modernize and overhaul the beltway that fed into the greater Kansas City area; improve public education funding, particularly for Title I schools and school districts; and to work on legislation that would allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices and get generics to the market faster, among other goals. He acknowledged to voters that some of these goals might not be possible with a Republican in the White House, especially one like Arnold Wolf, but he promised that while he would push on those priorities in Congress, in the meantime, his office would also put greater value and focus on constituent relations. On November 4th, 2018, Oliver Miller was elected to represent the 3rd Congressional District of Kansas with 53.3% of the vote, to Congressman Wooler's 44.2%.
Since his election, Oliver has mostly tried to follow the lead of Democratic Congressional leadership, all to wary of how precarious his position is. He has met mixed success in getting resources to his district, but just as he warned, very few of his priorities could be accomplished with Arnold Wolf in the White House. As history would have it, Wolf would not be in office for much longer, and by the November 2020 election, the showdown between Vice President Diehl and Governor Richardson would reach into his suburban district. Where other Democrats suffered defeats, Oliver's constituent service emphasis, honesty and empathy with regards to the situation he and his constituents faced, both politically and in light of the 2020 recession, maintained his favorability in the polls. It certainly didn't help that the local Republican machine nominated a Wolfist that alienated moderate Republicans and fired up Democratic voters at a time when lack of enthusiasm for the presidential candidates threatened turnout for both parties across the board. Oliver Miller was re-elected to office with 53.5% of the vote, touting a platform that declared that, with economic crisis hitting the nation and its most vulnerable communities, nothing short of historic investment in all communities could bring about an all-American recovery. Privately, Oliver is unsure about how such a recovery can go through, but he will be damned if he doesn't try.
One other footnote: when the Overland Park City Council voted to adopt a nondiscrimination ordinance in 2019, Oliver Miller was one of the first to be notified. It's said he grinned ear from ear and said a silent prayer of thanks that his hometown saw it through.
Other Info: Single as a Pringle, though he has exhibited interest in starting a relationship. He is also a practicing Methodist and belongs to an LGBT-affirming Methodist church in Overland Park.
I have read and accept the rules of the roleplay: Yaruqo
Do Not Remove: DRAFT87421
Are you sure you want to go through with this application? There is a very real chance a winnable KS-3 stops existing by the next election,
So two things:
1. Unsure how active I’ll be, so if I ultimately am unable to maintain activity, OPs can figure out what to do from there - maybe this will give them some flexibility later;
2. The president’s party historically doesn’t fare well with midterms, and if the recession continues to haunt the GOP, it could be competitive. But I’m looking forward to the challenge regardless
