December 23rd, 2020 by WCBC Radio

WBAL reports Maryland state Sen. Mike Miller, who was the longest-serving state Senate president in U.S. history, is stepping down from his Senate seat for health reasons. "For more than a half century, it has been my privilege to serve the people of Maryland," Miller wrote in a letter sent Wednesday to Senate President Bill Ferguson. "It is 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."

In October 2019, Miller stepped down from his post of Senate president due to health issues related to prostate cancer. In January 2019, on the second day of the legislative session, Miller announced he was fighting stage 4 prostate cancer.

Miller said in 2019 that his battle with prostate cancer had spread to his bones and that he suffers from fatigue. At the time, he decided to step down as Senate president but keep his 27th District Senate seat. He already announced he would not seek re-election in 2022.

Now 78, it was Miller's choice to step down from his Senate seat.

"During my tenure in the Senate of Maryland and my time serving as president, it was the greatest honor of my life in large part because I have seen the Senate rise above partisan and other differences time and time again," Miller wrote in his letter. "I have seen the Senate come together and unite to get the work of the people of Maryland done."

Miller is a graduate of the University of Maryland and its law school. He took a bill-drafting job in Annapolis in 1971. Six months later, he won a seat in the House of Delegates. In 1975, he claimed a Senate seat. Miller was first elected Senate president in 1987.