Miller, President Emeritus, Resigns After 45 Years in Md. Senate

State Sen. Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert), the longest-serving Senate president in Maryland history — believed to hold the record for service of any state Senate president in U.S. history — resigned from the seat he’s held for 45 years on Wednesday morning.

Miller, who stepped down from his leadership role in October 2019, continued to represent the 27th legislative district in the Maryland Senate and was bestowed with the title Senate President Emeritus.

Miller, 78, announced at the start of the 2019 General Assembly session that he’d been diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer and would undergo treatment. As recently as this month, Miller expressed hope that he’d return to Annapolis for his 51st legislative session.

But he said Wednesday that his failing health prevented him from doing so.

“For more than a half century, it has been my privilege to serve the people of Maryland. During my 45 years in the Senate of Maryland, I served with so many Senators of integrity and commitment ― men and women from all over the State who dedicated themselves to making our State a better place on behalf of our citizens,” Miller wrote in a resignation letter to his successor, Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) on Wednesday morning.

“It is now with tremendous sadness that I must write to you today to inform you that my service will end, effective today. My heart and my mind remain strong, but my body has grown too weak to meet the demands of another legislative session,” Miller wrote.

Miller was elected to the House of Delegates in 1970 and to the state Senate four years later. He became Senate president at the end of 1986.

His current district covers parts of Prince George’s, Calvert and Charles counties.

This story will be updated.

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