Patricia Billie Miller is an American politician serving as a member of the

Connecticut State Senate The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 99,280 inhabitants. Sena ...

from the 27th district. Miller was elected in a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

following the resignation of

Carlo Leone Carlo Leone is an American politician serving as the senior adviser to ConnDOT commissioner Joseph Giulietti. Leone formerly represented the 27th district of the Connecticut State Senate as a Democrat from 2011 until his resignation in 2021. Wh ...

. Previously, served in the

Connecticut House of Representatives The Connecticut State House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an ...

from the 145th district. Miller is the first woman and person of color to represent Stamford in either chamber of the legislature. She is a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

Career

Connecticut House of Representatives

In 2008, Miller was first elected to the 145th district seat, defeating Republican Fritz Blau. Her election win was considered significant because she became the first black person to represent Stamford in either chamber of the General Assembly. Miller was re-elected in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020.

Connecticut State Senate

In January 2021, longtime senator

retired to take a position in Governor

Ned Lamont Edward Miner Lamont Jr. (born January 3, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving as the 89th governor of Connecticut. He has served in this position since January 9, 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a Greenwi ...

's administration. In a special election held on March 2, Miller won over Republican challenger Joshua Esses. After her swearing in on March 8, she became the first woman and first person of color to represent the city of Stamford in the State Senate. During the 2022 Senate debate on House Bill 5414, which expanded abortion access and protections for providers and abortion patients from laws in other states meant to curb abortions, Miller echoed the concern voiced by Rep. Treneé McGee during the state House's debate on the bill that Black women were too often forced into using abortion as birth control because of a lack of support for other options. "I hear family planning — code word for abortion. Why can't it be a code word for planning your family?" she said. "Sometimes we don't have the choice because we don't have the money." She was one of several Democrats to vote against the bill, which passed with a comfortable majority and was soon signed into law as the Reproductive Freedom Defense Act by Governor

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Patricia Billie Democratic Party Connecticut state senators 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Politicians from Stamford, Connecticut African-American state legislators in Connecticut Women state legislators in Connecticut Democratic Party members of the Connecticut House of Representatives