Instead of Retiring, Miller Plans 10th Term in Senate

Reversing an earlier decision to retire, Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) announced yesterday that he plans to seek reelection in 2010, saying he had been persuaded by constituents and state leaders to continue serving a district where his family has lived for generations.

"If the people will have me, I will run enthusiastically," Miller, the state's longest-serving Senate president, said during an emotional news conference where he appeared on the verge of tears. "I don't make this decision lightly. . . . My primary concern is the people I represent. I feel I have a great debt to them."

Miller, who has presided over the Senate for more than two decades, declined to say whether he would ask his colleagues to reelect him as president in 2011, assuming he is returned to the Senate for a 10th term by voters in the district that includes parts of Calvert and Prince George's counties.

Several colleagues, however, said that they could not envision Miller, a gregarious lawyer with a well-deserved reputation for steering legislation through his chamber, serving in a Senate that he does not lead.

"I can't even imagine that," said Sen. James E. DeGrange Sr. (D-Anne Arundel), who is close to Miller.

DeGrange and others predicted that jockeying among several would-be successors would subside, at least for now, after Miller's announcement, which he repeated at a fundraiser last night in Baltimore.

Although neither Miller, 65, nor his counterpart in the House of Delegates -- Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) -- is a household name, both wield tremendous power in Annapolis.

"The president of the Senate plays an important role in shaping state policy, not as much as the governor, but not that far behind," said Sen. Brian E. Frosh (D-Montgomery), among those who had been positioning themselves to take over the gavel from Miller.

Frosh, chairman of the Judicial Proceedings Committee, said that it would "be very unusual" for Miller to serve in the Senate in a capacity other than president. "It would be challenging for both him and his successor," Frosh said. "I wouldn't feel compelled today to challenge him, and I doubt anyone else would, either."

Frosh was among the Senate leaders who -- along with Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) -- turned out at last night's fundraiser to pay tribute to Miller.

About 300 guests, including former governors Parris N. Glendening (D) and Marvin Mandel (D), convened in a hotel ballroom overlooking Baltimore's Inner Harbor, nibbling hors d'oeuvres and sipping beer and wine. Addressing the jovial gathering, O'Malley credited Miller with helping much of his legislative agenda during the past 16 months.

Although more conservative than many Democrats in his chamber, Miller has often seemed more interested in maintaining discipline in the 47-member Senate than pursuing an ideological agenda. Even some of his detractors expressed awe when he muscled through a package of tax increases and spending cuts sought by O'Malley during a special session called in the fall to fix the state's finances.

During recent years, Miller has been the state's most powerful advocate of legalizing slot machine gambling, but he has otherwise largely deferred to Democratic governors and his committee chairman to drive the Senate agenda. He has not been shy, however, about using his power on occasion to derail bills he does not care for.

Miller spoke at length during his afternoon news conference about the circumstances that led him to announce, shortly after the 2006 election, that his current four-year term would be his last.

Miller said he had grown frustrated during the four years that O'Malley's predecessor, Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., led the state, calling it a period of "stalemate" between the Republican governor and the Democratic-controlled General Assembly.

Moreover, Miller said, the 2006 campaign was "a very bitter, divisive campaign," both for his seat, as well as for the governorship and an open U.S. Senate seat from Maryland.

His district was blanketed with negative mailings, Miller said, including one implying that he was a racist. And a highly misleading flier was distributed by Republicans on Election Day, Miller said, targeting the race of the Democratic nominee for Senate, Benjamin L. Cardin, who managed to prevail.

Given that environment, the prospect of ending his Senate career and spending more time with his family seemed very attractive, Miller said.

"It was a decision for Mike Miller and his family," he said. "It was the right decision."

But, Miller said, "decisions are not always for individuals. . . . You think about people that you owe things to."

He credited O'Malley with returning a spirit of cooperation to Annapolis and said that his relationship with Busch, which had been frosty during the Ehrlich years, has markedly improved.

Miller's decision was warmly welcomed by some in his district, including Mel Franklin, a community activist and a member of the Prince George's County Democratic Central Committee.

"I think he looked at the current situation in the state . . . and his district and realized if he stepped away now, there'd really be a void in leadership," Franklin said. "What better advocate can you have for your district than the president of the Senate? He's always pushing efforts to bring dollars back to the district."