[1] In 1991, Miller deployed to the Persian Gulf War, where he served as a leader of a tank platoon that helped drive Saddam Hussein's army from Kuwait.

[11][13] In 2010, while Miller was being scrutinized by the media, allegations were made that he had violated nepotism rules by hiring his wife, and he was criticized because she collected unemployment compensation after being forced to quit the job.

Miller responded that the nepotism rules were different at the time she was hired, and the court verified that he initially had clearance from his superiors to employ her.

[15] Miller spent seven years as a part-time assistant attorney for the Fairbanks North Star Borough (2002–2009) while maintaining a private law practice from which he earned the bulk of his income.

[3] In 2008, he misused the borough's computers for political purposes (to pad a poll as part of his campaign for Republican Party state chair).

[19] He resigned from the assistant attorney post in September 2009 over disputes involving a possible conflict of interest in a case and his request for time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act.

Miller's attorney responded that it was routine to delete non-essential e-mails and that the borough's inquiries were an attempt to threaten a candidate and illegally interfere with an election.

[26] Miller announced his candidacy in April 2010, saying that the U.S. republic needed to be defended from a "head-long plunge into socialism and more government control".

[35] Miller faced two candidates in the general election: Democrat Scott McAdams and Republican incumbent Lisa Murkowski, who announced a write-in campaign on September 17.

[37] Various groups from outside Alaska endorsed Miller and contributed large sums of money to his general election campaign, including the Tea Party Express, the Safari Club International, and the National Right to Life Committee.

[17] During his general election campaign, Miller said he supported sharp reductions in federal spending and stronger states' rights.

[17][37] He told the Washington D.C. newspaper The Hill that the nation's problems were caused by activist judges who had permitted government growth and allowed dependency and "the entitlement state to grab hold".

[39] Alaskan media criticized Miller for a 1995 sworn application in which he claimed to be indigent and a one-year continuous resident of Alaska to obtain a hunting and fishing license for $5, a $295 discount from the non-resident fee.

[39] Following a mid-October leak of information about his work record as a borough attorney, Miller held a news conference telling reporters that he was drawing a line in the sand and would not answer any more questions about his past.

[41][42][43][44][45] Bill Fulton, the owner of the unlicensed security firm said the journalist, Tony Hopfinger, was trespassing at a private event and had assaulted a Miller supporter by shoving him.

Fulton was subsequently named as the federal informant who supplied weapons to a radical accused of plotting the deaths of officials in Fairbanks.

[47] Hopfinger said he had been trying to ask Miller whether he had been disciplined while working as a local government lawyer,[45] when he was suddenly surrounded by guards and supporters, and bumped or shoved against one of them.

[19][50] In an October 18, 2010 interview with CNN's John King, Miller admitted that he had been disciplined for an ethics violation while serving as an assistant attorney for the Fairbanks North Star Borough;[51] he characterized the offense as "petty".

On October 27, The Guardian reported that Sarah Palin and other well-known conservatives were scheduled to "rush to the aid of the beleaguered Tea Party-backed candidate for the US Senate, Joe Miller, after newly released documents reveal he lied about a computer tampering scandal".

[53] In late October 2010, Sarah Palin announced on Fox News Channel that the Anchorage CBS-TV affiliate, KTVA, had been conspiring to make up stories about Miller and that the campaign had proof.

[56] The station's general manager initially took no action, saying the remarks were taken out of context,[57] but he later fired two producers involved, and canceled two newscasts to hold a staff meeting discussing ethics in journalism.

Miller then filed suit in State court, repeating the claims he had previously made, and adding allegations of vote fraud and bias.

[70][71] On December 26, Miller announced that he would be withdrawing his opposition for Murkowski's Senate certification, but would continue pursuing his federal case.

A late-race endorsement of Miller by former governor Sarah Palin[76] did not yield a win, as former Alaska Attorney General and Commissioner of Natural Resources Daniel S. Sullivan won the Republican primary on August 19, 2014.

Sullivan received 40% of the vote, having vastly outspent Miller (who gathered 32%) and Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell (25%) combined.

[79] Miller said he would not support Gary Johnson, the Libertarian presidential nominee, and would instead vote for Republican candidate Donald Trump.

[95] Miller stated at a town hall meeting that he believed East Germany was an example of a nation taking effective measures to control the flow of people across a border.

[96] Miller believes illegal immigration is a "critically important" issue to deal with because of its economic effects on health care, education and employment.

Miller wants to secure the border to stop more immigrants from entering America illegally and protect the country from possible terrorist threats.