Former GOP activist, Assembly candidate Millspaugh dies at 55

Thursday, Aug. 1, 2002 | 9:20 a.m.

Gregory Lowell Millspaugh had a meteoric rise in the Clark County Republican Party in the 1960s, and over the years he made his presence known fighting for conservative ideals and taking leadership roles at conventions.

Despite three unsuccessful bids for office during a 10-year span in the 1970s and '80s, Millspaugh maintained his desire to make a difference. He supported issues that became policy and law and helped pass measures to protect children.

Millspaugh, who served as chairman of local GOP conventions and was a Republican National Convention delegate pledged to Ronald Reagan in 1976, died July 11. He was 55.

Sunrise Crematorium and Burial Society handled arrangements. Friends are planning what they call a "memorial roast" in Millspaugh's honor.

Millspaugh, who moved with his family to Las Vegas in 1961 at age 14, graduated from Rancho High School in 1965 and from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1969, earning degrees in physics and political science.

He was an expert on parliamentary procedure.

"Greg's influence extended to the national level," friend Rick Kuhlmey said. "(He was) well known for his abilities as a strategist (and) was active in numerous campaigns throughout the years."

Born April 21, 1947, to Robert Lowell and Jean Veronica Millspaugh, he was making the rounds within the GOP by age 19. He served as vice chairman of the Nevada State Young Republicans in the early 1970s.

Before his first run for office, Millspaugh served as parliamentarian for the 1972 Clark County and state Republican conventions and was a member of the county and state central committees and the Clark County Republican Executive Committee.

In 1972, at age 25, he ran for Assembly District 11 on a platform opposing "any state appropriations for school busing" and the restoration of capital punishment for crimes including murder and kidnaping.

Millspaugh supported a central dispatch for city and county fire departments without regard to municipal boundaries, which today is how local fire services respond to blazes.

Then a programmer analyst with Bank of Nevada, the upstart Millspaugh defeated two contenders in the GOP primary but lost to Democrat John Banner in the general runoff.

In the 1970s and '80s, Millspaugh served as a volunteer lobbyist at the Legislature. As a court-appointed special advocate for the Clark County Juvenile Court he worked to strengthen statutes that protected abused and neglected children.

In 1980, while working as a computer systems analyst for a contractor at Nellis Air Force Base, Millspaugh again threw his hat into the ring for Assembly District 22.

In his third attempt at office, Millspaugh in 1982 tried for the Senate District 7 seat. He ran on a platform of tougher laws to fight crime and for restitution for victims of crimes.

In 1980 and '82, he served as Clark County Republican Convention chairman.

Last May, Millspaugh graduated from the University of Nevada Las Vegas' William S. Boyd School of Law.

He is survived by his mother, Jean Millspaugh; a sister, Michelle Brown; and a niece, Liesl Brown.