48 Facts About Aruna Miller

Aruna Miller is an American politician and civil engineer who has been serving as the tenth lieutenant governor of Maryland since 2023.

Aruna Miller ran for Congress in 2018 to represent Maryland's 6th congressional district, losing to David Trone in the Democratic primary.

Aruna Miller is the first South Asian woman elected lieutenant governor in the United States, as well as the first Asian American lieutenant governor and first immigrant to hold statewide office in Maryland.

Aruna Miller is the second woman to be elected lieutenant governor of Maryland after Kathleen Kennedy Townsend.

Aruna Miller was born on November 6,1964, in Hyderabad, India, into a Telugu Hindu family.

Aruna Miller's family came to the United States when she was seven years old.

Aruna Miller attended public schools in Upstate New York and Ballwin, Missouri.

Aruna Miller earned a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from the Missouri University of Science and Technology.

Aruna Miller worked as a transportation engineer for local governments in California, Virginia, and Hawaii.

Aruna Miller moved to Maryland in 1990, where she worked for the Montgomery County Department of Transportation.

Aruna Miller has overseen programs that advanced access to schools, employment centers, and community facilities that are safe for pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users, and people with differing abilities.

Aruna Miller became a citizen of the United States in 2000 and voted in the 2000 United States presidential election for Vice President of the United States Al Gore.

Aruna Miller became frustrated with the Supreme Court's decision in Bush v Gore, and subsequently became involved with politics by volunteering to help other candidates get elected.

In 2006, Aruna Miller was appointed to serve as an at-large member of the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee and served in that position until 2010.

Aruna Miller initially declined to run, but changed her mind after talking with her husband.

Aruna Miller won the election to represent District 15 in the Maryland House of Delegates, but assumed office a month early due to Rice's resignation to take office on the Montgomery County Council.

Aruna Miller received support from fellow members of the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee, who voted to recommend that Governor Martin O'Malley appoint her to finish the last month of Rice's term.

Aruna Miller was the first Indian American woman to be elected to the Maryland Legislature.

In 2012, Aruna Miller served as an at-large delegate to the Democratic National Convention, pledged to President Barack Obama.

In May 2017, Aruna Miller told The Baltimore Sun that she would run for Congress in Maryland's 6th congressional district if John Delaney decided to pursue a campaign for governor.

On July 28,2017, Aruna Miller announced her candidacy in the United States House of Representatives election to replace Delaney, who said he would not run for re-election to instead run for president in 2020.

Aruna Miller won Montgomery County but this was the only voting district she won outright.

In February 2019, Aruna Miller was named the new executive director of Indian American Impact.

In January 2021, Aruna Miller filed paperwork to run for Congress again had Trone decided against running for a third-term.

The Moore-Aruna Miller ticket won the Democratic primary election on July 19,2022.

Aruna Miller is 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.

Aruna Miller served as the chair of the transition team for Governor-elect Moore.

Aruna Miller took the oath of office on the Bhagavad Gita, making her first lieutenant governor to do so.

In February 2023, Aruna Miller became the first woman of color to chair the Maryland Board of Public Works meeting after Governor Moore recused himself from a vote related to a contract between the Maryland Department of Health and Under Armour, a company he has financial holdings in.

Aruna Miller was an at-large delegate to the 2024 Democratic National Convention, pledged to Kamala Harris and served as a member of the DNC Rules committee.

Aruna Miller traveled out of state to battleground state of Michigan in support of the Kamala Harris 2024 presidential campaign In the 2024 presidential election, Aruna Miller voted as an elector pledged to Harris.

In October 2022, The Intercept reported that Moore and Aruna Miller were honored at a fundraiser hosted by individuals associated with Hindutva, or a Hindu nationalist political ideology.

In June 2023, during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to the United States, Aruna Miller tweeted a statement in support of efforts urging President Joe Biden to press Modi on the issue of human rights.

In July 2023, The Independent reported that party officials acting on behalf of Aruna Miller had retaliated against people who alleged she had ties to Hindutva, including an instance where a Democratic central committee member claimed that he was threatened by the chair to alter his vote supporting Susan Kerin, an activist who alleged Aruna Miller had ties to Hindutva.

In 2013, Aruna Miller co-sponsored legislation that would require schools to start after Labor Day.

In 2016, Aruna Miller introduced legislation that would recognize school systems as "Orange Ribbon Schools" if they had elementary school classes starting after 8am and middle school classes after 8:30am.

In 2018, Aruna Miller introduced legislation that would require high schools to offer at least one high-quality computer science course and encourages local school districts to integrate computer science into their earlier grades.

In 2013, Aruna 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.

Aruna 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 Aruna 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.

Aruna Miller stood in opposition to excluding nail salon workers from being eligible to receive unemployment benefits.

In February 2018, Aruna Miller voted for a bill that would provide $5.6 billion in tax incentives to Amazon to build their second headquarters in Montgomery County.

In January 2012, Miller signed onto an amicus brief in the Supreme Court case of National Federation of Independent Business v Sebelius supporting the Affordable Care Act.

Aruna Miller endorsed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for president on April 9,2016.

In March 2018, Aruna Miller said she supported studying alternative treatments, including ibogaine and marijuana, to help patients wean themselves from opioids.

Aruna Miller is an adherent of Hinduism and swore her oath on the Bhagavad Gita.

Aruna Miller has three adult daughters, and her mother lives with the family in Darnestown, Maryland.

Aruna Miller maintains her activism in community organizations and has served on the boards of Round House Theatre, Montgomery Parks Foundation, Emerge Maryland, Madison House Autism Foundation, BlackRock Center for the Arts and the Montgomery County Public Schools Educational Foundation.