Aruna Miller is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party from the state of Maryland. Miller is a former member of the Maryland House of Delegates representing Legislative District 15 in Montgomery County.
Aruna Miller Katragadda is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party from the state of Maryland. Miller is a former member of the Maryland House of Delegates representing Legislative District 15 in Montgomery County. Aruna ran for Congress in 2018 to represent Maryland’s 6th congressional district, and lost the Democratic primary to David Trone by 9.3%, with 30.7% of the vote compared to Trone’s 40.0%, and consequently did not advance to the general election. Her family came to the United States when she was eight years old. Along with her two siblings and parents, she lived in Poughkeepsie, New York, where IBM employed her father as a mechanical engineer. She attended public schools in upstate New York and Ballwin, Missouri, and then attended Missouri University of Science and Technology (Rolla, MO) earning a degree in Civil Engineering.

Miller worked as a transportation engineer first in Los Angeles County, California and then, for over 25 years, in Montgomery County, Maryland. She 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. In 2015, she retired from Montgomery County to devote her full attention to her service in the Maryland legislature.

In 2006, Miller was elected to serve as an At-Large Member of the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee and served in that position until 2010.

In 2010, Miller ran for and won a seat in the Maryland House of Delegates to represent the citizens in Legislative District 15. Comprising suburban and rural areas of northwestern Montgomery County, District 15 includes all or parts of Potomac, Germantown, Gaithersburg, Clarksburg, Boyds, Poolesville, and Darnestown. Miller was the first Indian American woman to be elected to the Maryland Legislature.

In 2012, Miller served as an At-Large Delegate to the Democratic National Convention, pledged to President Barack Obama. [3]

In 2014, Miller won reelection to serve as a State Delegate from District 15 and held that position until 2019. Miller served in the Maryland House of Delegates during both Democratic and Republican administrations, first under a Democratic Governor Martin O’Malley and later under a Republican Governor Larry Hogan. In her first term (2010-2015), Miller served on the Ways and Means Committee and its Revenue, Transportation, and Education Subcommittees. In her second term (2015-2019), Miller served on the Appropriations Committee where she held several leadership positions including Chair of the Oversight of Personnel Subcommittee, Vice-Chair of the Transportation and Environment Subcommittee, and Vice-Chair of the Capital Budget Subcommittee In 1990, Miller moved to Montgomery County, Maryland, where she married her college sweetheart, David Miller; they have three adult daughters: Meena, Chloe, and Sasha. Miller’s mother lives with the family in Darnestown, MD. Miller is an avid animal rights advocate, vegetarian, and baseball fan.

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

Miller is a graduate of Leadership Montgomery (class of 2013).