Helmville Republican Mike Miller said he decided to run for office because he wanted to be in a position to make an impact.

He's challenging Republican incumbent John Ward in the primary June 3. The district includes much of the northern Helena Valley, stretches north to Highway 200 and the Cascade County line, and extends westward to cover the southern half of Powell County. The winner faces a Democrat and a Libertarian in the general election.

"I got tired of complaining about things and not doing anything about them," he said. "I thought that I could do something positive."

Miller has challenged Ward's conservative credentials, and he was raised in what he calls a traditional Republican family who believed in the core conservative issues of small government and fiscal responsibility.

"I think I'm a strong, consistent fiscal conservative," Miller said. "I believe in the Republican principles of small government, more-efficient government."

One of his main priorities, if elected, would be to raise teachers' salaries in Montana to better compete on the national market. Miller said he's seen teaching positions advertised for as little as $19,000 per year.

Miller said he believes waste in state government could be trimmed, with money gained from those efficiencies going to support education. He also thinks increased natural-resource development could provide a funding stream for schools, but said he hadn't carefully examined the state's school-funding formula.

He said a state ripe with timber and minerals should be more open to natural-resource development, though he said he wants it done responsibly.

"We can't just go in and log or clear-cut everything and strip-mine everything, but it does need to be done in some places," Millers said.

Miller, on his Web site, said he supports gun rights, property rights and will work to limit government spending.

Miller said health-care expenditures should be eligible as tax deductions, but he otherwise believes the government has no place in the health-care system.

"It's just something that I don't think the government should be involved in," he said. "A lot of times the government gets involved in something, they just make matters worse."

As a small business owner, Miller said he would support economic development in the state. He said he would support tax breaks for companies willing to move here.

Miller was the subject of a political-practices complaint, filed earlier this month by Ward, after he circulated a pamphlet that claimed Ward voted with Democrats and against a majority of Republicans on about a dozen issues in the 2007 session. Miller stopped circulating the leaflet -- he said he only handed out three copies -- after he was told he had left off several informational statements required by state law. Ward claimed the document grossly misrepresented his voting record.

To see Miller's Web site, follow the link in this story online at helenair.com.

Click here to visit Mike Miller's Web site.

Click here to view the IR's legislative candidate profiles.

Reporter Larry Kline: 447-4075 or larry.kline@helenair.com