Del. Warren Miller, who represents Carroll and Howard counties, announced his resignation from the House of Delegates to refocus on his professional career.
Miller, a Republican representing District 9A, has served in the Maryland House since then-Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich appointed him in 2003.
Like many members of the General Assembly, Miller, 56, works a separate job; he is the director of business development at Akima, a technology company. For the past 11 years, Miller said, he would work nine months at Akima and three in Annapolis. Now, the company has asked Miller to work full-time.
“I’d rather pay my bills than continue in the General Assembly which I’ve gotten to participate in for 17 great years,” Miller said Thursday.
Miller said his work on making Route 32, the most used single-lane road in the state, safer is the proudest of his tenure.
“For years and years even before I was a delegate, there was talk about how unsafe [Route 32] was,” he said. “From the beginning, I’ve had to work with others to get safety improvements.”
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In the last three years, Route 32 has been widened in effort to address those safety concerns.
Whoever replaces Miller will be nominated in the same way he was. The Republican central committees in both Howard and Carroll counties will accept applications and interview candidates. Each committee will take a straw poll, and a list of preferences will be sent to Gov. Larry Hogan for his selection.
Miller also announced his preference for Col. Reid Novotny as his replacement. Novotny, a Maryland National Guard Joint Staff lead for IT and cyber, ran in the 2018 state Senate race to represent District 9. He lost in the Republican primary to Gail Bates.
“The hope is both counties will send Reid’s name,” Miller said. “He’s a bright energetic person, kind of like what I was when I started. I think he’ll do a great job in Annapolis.”
Hogan has 15 days to review the list and ask the central committees for more names or to select a candidate from their lists.
“I’m very comfortable doing this now rather than trying to hang out for the next two years,” Miller said. “It’s going to give Reid or whoever replaces me time to adjust before the next election.”
Miller’s last day in office is Dec. 30.