Aruna Miller, a Democrat, is a former member of the Maryland House of Delegates representing Legislative District 15 in Montgomery County. Miller ran for Congress in 2018 to represent Maryland’s 6th congressional district. Once sworn in, Miller will be the first South Asian woman elected lieutenant governor in the United States, and the first Asian American lieutenant governor and first immigrant to hold statewide office in Maryland and the second female lieutenant governor.
In 2013, Miller was one of ten Maryland lawmakers named to the Maryland Business Climate Work Group designed to make recommendations and develop long-term plans to streamline business regulations, encourage business innovation, and develop public-private partnerships to finance infrastructure. Miller encouraged strengthening economic and cultural development between Maryland and India and accompanied Governor Martin O’Malley on a trade mission to India in 2011, which resulted in nearly $60 million in business deals for the state of Maryland. Delegate Miller took a lead role in working with the Office of the Secretary of State and the Department of Economic Development to coordinate the Governor’s arrangements for his first stop to Hyderabad.
During her first term as a state delegate, Miller introduced one of the early Maryland bills for paid family leave.bIn her second term, while serving as chair of the Oversight of Personnel Subcommittee, Miller was the floor leader for multiple bills expanding collective bargaining for employees. Miller stood in opposition to excluding nail salon workers from being eligible to receive unemployment benefits.