Fearful GOP Official Resigns After Tea Party Attacks

The tragedy in Tucson was the final straw for the embattled Republican Party chief of a Phoenix-area congressional district. Anthony Miller, a former campaign worker for John McCain, says he was the target of relentless attacks from Tea Party supporters and he feared the tension between Republican factions could lead to violence against him or his family, the Arizona Republic reports.

Miller was re-elected to his post in November, defeating a candidate backed by a coalition of conservative groups. "I wasn't going to resign but decided to quit after what happened Saturday," Miller says. "I love the Republican Party but I don't want to take a bullet for anyone." Several other party officials in the district also quit. "It's too bad," said the area's Republican state senator. "He didn't deserve to be hounded out of office."
(More Gabrielle Giffords shooting stories.)