The shadow governor knows: Miller faces reporters in Annapolis. Photograph by Patrick Semansky/AP Photo.
Shortly after Election Day eight years ago, Thomas V. “Mike” Miller, president of Maryland’s State Senate, said his just-won tenth term in the General Assembly would be his last. The then 63-year-old Democrat was worn out from tangling with Republican governor Robert Ehrlich and still haunted by criticism for having contacted judges ruling on a 2002 legislative redistricting plan. Miller soon thought better of stepping down. Announcing his 2014 run, he told reporters that his wife “would just as soon I was down here instead of bothering her.”
Larry Hogan, Maryland’s new Republican governor, may soon recognize the feeling. A newbie to elective office, he faces a rejuvenated Miller, who, backed by veto-proof Democratic majorities in the Senate and the House of Delegates, wields nearly untrammeled power. Some observers call him the shadow governor.
“I’m not sure I would say ‘shadow,’” laughs Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III.
Miller insists his leadership is bipartisan and laissez-faire. “I govern like a jockey on a horse,” he says. “I’m very loose on the reins.”
But he also knows how to get his way. In 2012, as legislators worked frantically to finish the state’s $37-billion budget, Miller forced an adjournment, unleashing a series of punishing automatic cuts. The maneuver impelled then governor Martin O’Malley to call two special legislative sessions to pass a budget and approve a casino to be built near Miller’s boyhood home in Prince George’s County (and close to his family’s food-and-beverage distributorship).
“He was down, flat out on the canvas,” recalls Brian Frosh, Maryland’s newly elected attorney general and a state senator for much of Miller’s reign. “The next thing you know, his hand is being raised by the referees.”
And that’s when a fellow Democrat was governor. After Ehrlich took office in 2003, Miller tightened the reins, refusing to confirm Ehrlich’s environment secretary. There were bitter tax fights. Ehrlich was a one-termer.
Miller recognizes that Hogan’s victory represented a cry for change. But he says, “There are issues we’re not going to budge on—education, health care, the environment.” He is less likely to make a stand for the planned Purple Line linking Bethesda to New Carrollton.
Miller says he and Hogan have been speaking frequently. “He was just here today,” Miller said a few weeks before Hogan’s inauguration, adding, “Neither of us had on ties.” They’ve chatted about the $700-million budget shortfall and about cabinet picks and other appointees.
Frosh thinks the two can avoid all-out war: “Hogan will figure out what he has to do to keep the peace.” But Miller’s aim, the attorney general says, will likely be the same: “He’ll be looking for a way to elect a Democrat the next time.”
Miranda S. Spivack (spivackm@gmail.com) is a veteran political reporter in Washington.
This article appears in the February 2015 issue of Washingtonian.
Meet the One Guy Larry Hogan Needs to Get Anything Done
Mike Miller has run Maryland's Senate for nearly three decades. But with a newbie GOP governor, he's never been more powerful than he is now.
Shortly after Election Day eight years ago, Thomas V. “Mike” Miller, president of Maryland’s State Senate, said his just-won tenth term in the General Assembly would be his last. The then 63-year-old Democrat was worn out from tangling with Republican governor Robert Ehrlich and still haunted by criticism for having contacted judges ruling on a 2002 legislative redistricting plan. Miller soon thought better of stepping down. Announcing his 2014 run, he told reporters that his wife “would just as soon I was down here instead of bothering her.”
Larry Hogan, Maryland’s new Republican governor, may soon recognize the feeling. A newbie to elective office, he faces a rejuvenated Miller, who, backed by veto-proof Democratic majorities in the Senate and the House of Delegates, wields nearly untrammeled power. Some observers call him the shadow governor.
“I’m not sure I would say ‘shadow,’” laughs Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III.
Miller insists his leadership is bipartisan and laissez-faire. “I govern like a jockey on a horse,” he says. “I’m very loose on the reins.”
But he also knows how to get his way. In 2012, as legislators worked frantically to finish the state’s $37-billion budget, Miller forced an adjournment, unleashing a series of punishing automatic cuts. The maneuver impelled then governor Martin O’Malley to call two special legislative sessions to pass a budget and approve a casino to be built near Miller’s boyhood home in Prince George’s County (and close to his family’s food-and-beverage distributorship).
“He was down, flat out on the canvas,” recalls Brian Frosh, Maryland’s newly elected attorney general and a state senator for much of Miller’s reign. “The next thing you know, his hand is being raised by the referees.”
And that’s when a fellow Democrat was governor. After Ehrlich took office in 2003, Miller tightened the reins, refusing to confirm Ehrlich’s environment secretary. There were bitter tax fights. Ehrlich was a one-termer.
Miller recognizes that Hogan’s victory represented a cry for change. But he says, “There are issues we’re not going to budge on—education, health care, the environment.” He is less likely to make a stand for the planned Purple Line linking Bethesda to New Carrollton.
Miller says he and Hogan have been speaking frequently. “He was just here today,” Miller said a few weeks before Hogan’s inauguration, adding, “Neither of us had on ties.” They’ve chatted about the $700-million budget shortfall and about cabinet picks and other appointees.
Frosh thinks the two can avoid all-out war: “Hogan will figure out what he has to do to keep the peace.” But Miller’s aim, the attorney general says, will likely be the same: “He’ll be looking for a way to elect a Democrat the next time.”
Miranda S. Spivack (spivackm@gmail.com) is a veteran political reporter in Washington.
This article appears in the February 2015 issue of Washingtonian.
Most Popular in News & Politics
Washington DC’s 500 Most Influential People of 2025
Rock Creek Isn’t Safe to Swim In. RFK Jr. Did It Anyway.
Meet the Duck Whisperer of DC
How a Battle Over a Kids’ Gym Turned Into the Lawsuit From Hell
A New Book About Joe Biden Has Washington Chattering, the Library Wars Continue, and the Wizards Lost Out in the Draft
Washingtonian Magazine
May Issue: 52 Perfect Saturdays
View IssueSubscribe
Follow Us on Social
Follow Us on Social
Related
What’s the Deal With “Republican Makeup”?
DC Might Be Getting a Watergate Museum
DC-Area Universities Are Offering Trump Classes This Fall
Viral DC-Area Food Truck Flavor Hive Has It in the Bag
More from News & Politics
Kennedy Center Prez Calls for Federal Investigation of Kennedy Center, Caps Player Pepper-Sprayed in Arlington, and Trump Decries Online Harassment
DC Is About to Unveil the “Longest LGBTQ+ Mural in History”
What’s the Deal With “Republican Makeup”?
Are the Pandas Truly Ready to Enter the DC Dating Scene? A Washingtonian Analysis.
Pardoned January 6 Rioter Arrested for Breaking and Entering in Virginia
The Pandas Are Flirting, Trump Demands Investigation Into Springsteen, and We Found the Best Bar Snack in Clarendon
A Vending Machine for DC Books Has Arrived in Western Market
A Non-Speaking Autistic Artist’s Paintings Are Getting a DC Gallery Show