Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, the longest-serving Senate president in the state’s history, is stepping down from his leadership post as he battles cancer, he announced Thursday.
“My mind is still strong, but my body’s weak,” Miller said in an afternoon news conference.
His announcement came after Senate Democrats huddled in Annapolis for an annual leadership caucus about two months before the legislative session is set to begin.
Miller, 76, announced in January — ahead of the last General Assembly session — that he was battling an aggressive form of prostate cancer, but he pledged to continue carrying out his Senate duties as he underwent chemotherapy treatments as long as his health would allow.
Miller, who was first elected in the Maryland Senate in the mid-1970s, has served as president of the upper chamber for 33 years. He is the longest-serving Senate president ever in Maryland and in the nation.
Miller was well-regarded by members of both parties in Annapolis, where he was credited as a fair and effective leader, and a vigorous fighter for his causes.
Succeeding Miller in the Senate president post is Sen. Bill Ferguson, the unanimous pick of Senate Democratic leaders.
Ferguson, 36, represents the 46th District, which includes Baltimore City, and also serves as the vice chairman of the Budget and Taxation Committee. Ferguson is a former high school history teacher, and he became the youngest person elected to the Maryland Senate at the time when he won his seat in 2010.
Ferguson’s name will now go to the Senate floor for a vote by the chamber’s 47 members.
“There is no one who can replace Mike Miller,” Ferguson said Thursday.
In his announcement Thursday, Miller said he would stay on in the Senate representing the 27th District, which includes parts of Calvert, Charles and southern Prince George’s counties.
“I look forward to being a state senator,” Miller said, listing some legislative priorities he hoped to tackle, including the Kirwan Commission recommendations to boost education spending and a measure to keep the Preakness in Baltimore.
Miller said he was in the hospital last week and made the decision to resign his leadership post after consulting with his doctors.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, issued a statement after Miller’s announcement, calling him a “strong, unifying leader” and thanking him for his service.
“His steady presence and trademark humor will be deeply missed as president, but we are pleased to know that Mike will continue to represent the people of District 27 in the Senate,” Hogan said in the statement.
WTOP’s Kate Ryan and Maryland Matters’ Bruce Depuyt contributed to this report from Annapolis, Maryland.
