Former U.S. Sen. Zell Miller, a Democrat who led the charge for Georgia's lottery-funded HOPE scholarships during his two terms as governor, has died. He was 86.
Lori Geary, a spokeswoman for the Miller Institute Foundation, said he died Friday morning. His grandson, Bryan Miller, said the former senator and governor died "peacefully surrounded by his family."
Miller's relatives announced last year that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
Miller served as Georgia governor from 1991 to 1999. He was called out of retirement at age 68 in 2000 to fill the final four years of a Senate term. The lifelong Democrat spent most of the term attacking his own party for veering away from mainstream values, and cast many of his votes with Republicans.
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