Maryland Assemblywoman Aruna Miller announces run for Congress

WASHINGTON (Diya TV) — Aruna Miller, a member of Maryland’s House of Delegates, has announced her intentions to run for the seat of the state’s sixth congressional district, which is currently held by Democrat John Delaney.

A three-term assembly woman currently serving the state’s 15th district in the House of Delegates, the Indian-born Miller filed an official “statement of candidacy” with the Federal Election Commission earlier this month, this will enable her to begin fundraising for her campaign.

Delaney, a wealthy banker and three-term congressman in his own right, is expected to announce his intentions to run for governor of Maryland next year. Miller said she had a personal conversation with Delaney, where he told her that he would not be seeking a fourth term in the House of Representatives.

“Sometime in June, he is going to make a decision on what his future plans are. I had a personal conversation with him and he told me that he is leaning in the direction of not seeking re-election for the seat,” Miller said.

“Number one, I want to make sure that it remains a Democratic seat as this is very important for the state of Maryland and the people of Maryland,” she said. “I have resided in the sixth district for over 14 years. I raised my family here. My daughters all went to public schools here, I worked here as well.”

Miller is a transportation engineer by trade, and a mother of three. As a “working mom,” Miller said she understands entirely what it means to balance the difference between her home and professional lives. “These are the struggles that the people of the sixth district face,” she said.

“I am no different than the average sixth district resident. And in my role as a member of Congress, I will be in a position to work putting in place policies that help working family.”

Miller said Maryland’s economy and the district’s infrastructure will be focal points of her campaign.

“I also want to focus on policies that help working families,” she said. “We no longer live in an era where there is only one bread winner, and that’s the male. In the 21st century, we have dual income families, and that means we need to take look at the labor policies. We have to help working families. They have to be able to take care of families and balance work.”

Maryland’s 6th Congressional District includes the wealthy suburb towns of Potomac, Frederic City, and Allegany, Garrett, and Washington counties. It is regarded as one of the state’s most competitive districts. It remained a GOP stronghold until Delaney’s defeat of 11-term congressman Roscoe G. Bartlett in 2012 by more than 20 percentage points. However, in the next election his margin shrunk to fewer than 2,800.

Miller has been a member of the state’s House of Delegates since 2010, she serves as a member of the Ways & Means Committee and its subcommittees on revenue, transportation, and education. In the statehouse, she has championed women’s issues — she is a former chair of Women’s Caucus — and has sponsored or cosponsored bills to protect children and environment.

She arrived in the U.S. from Hyderabad at the age of seven, and is the daughter of a mechanical engineer.