In 1984 Miller and her husband, George Schaefer, moved to Norfolk, Virginia, where she became a reporter for WTKR-TV, the local CBS affiliate.

Schaefer switched political allegiances at the turn of the millennium and was elected Norfolk Clerk of Circuit Court as a Democrat in 2003.

In the special election on December 14, she narrowly defeated Michael Ball, the local Republican chair and a professional fundraiser for conservative televangelist Pat Robertson's Regent University.

Miller stressed the need for bipartisan solutions to such issues as transportation and the environment, in the manner of Democratic Governor Mark Warner; Ball emphasized his conservative credentials and his potential for delivering for the district as a member of the House majority.

[9] In 2005 she won reelection in a three-way race with Ball and independent John Coggeshall, a local lawyer, cabaret entertainer and radio talk show host.