Candidate for
Member of the State Assembly; District 5; Democratic Party

Larry Miles has served on the San Juan Unified School District Board of Education since 2004, winning reelection in 2008 with over 57,000 votes. He has served two terms as Board President, and has been a leading voice in numerous educational initiatives in San Juan, from infusing technology in instruction to enhancing career technical education and 21st century learning. The Sacramento Bee has endorsed Larry three times.

Larry's commitment to public service has spanned almost four decades. The son of a career Air Force sergeant and an ER nurse, Larry attended UCLA on a scholarship where he went on to become Student Body President and Chairman of the UC Student Body Presidents Council. As a student leader he helped seat the first student on the UC Board of Regents, and was very active in Democratic politics. At 21, Larry flew Secretary of State candidate Cathy O'Neill in her statewide campaign. On graduation, he was awarded the Alumni Outstanding Graduating Senior award.

After graduating from UCLA in 1975, Larry served as an intern in the office of newly elected Governor Jerry Brown. Later that year, Larry accepted a CORO Fellowship in Public Affairs in San Francisco. As a CORO Fellow, Larry interned with the Office of Mayor George Moscone, the San Francisco Labor Council, Wells Fargo Bank, the UC Office of the President, and helped write the program outline for the California Conservation Corps, among other projects. He subsequently received his MA in Urban Affairs from Occidental College. After working as an Assistant to UC President David Saxon in 1976-77, Larry received his law degree from Martin Luther King Hall at UC Davis in 1979.

In 1980, Larry declined offers from some of the top law firms in California and began a law practice with his wife, Marsha. In 1986, Larry went to work as Vice-President and General Counsel of the Cal Worthington Auto Group, then one of the largest auto groups in the nation. In 1992, Larry left to start his own small law firm and has continued to serve small business and individual clients since then. He has served as a mediator, arbitrator, and a Judge Pro Tem for the Sacramento Superior Court.

Larry has lived in the Fifth Assembly District for over 23 years and has been very active in his community. Larry was involved in youth activities for over a decade, serving as a soccer, softball, baseball, and basketball coach for local youth programs and also volunteered for over six years with high school youth sports, serving on the El Camino High School Boosters Club, including two years on the Board of Directors. His many community activities also include serving as Member of the Board of Directors, Sierra Service Project (helping young people serve on Indian service projects), from 2004-2007, serving as an active member of St. Mark's Methodist Church since 1995, and flying medical personnel to Baja Mexico for 11 years with the Flying Samaritans. In 2005, he served as a member of the Mather AFB Commission.

Larry has been married to his law school classmate, Marsha, for 30 years. Marsha is General Counsel for the Department of Education. Larry and Marsha have two children, Jonathan and Katherine, who attended San Juan District schools. Jon is a 2009 graduate of the UCLA School of Law, and Katherine teaches in Los Angeles while completing her Masters degree at the UCLA Graduate School of Education.

Larry has been a pilot for 38 years. He has a commercial pilot rating, and is instrument, multi-engine rated, with land and seaplane endorsements.