Senator Yvonne B. Miller (D-Norfolk) will miss part of the upcoming General Assembly session, according to a press release from the Senate Democratic Caucus. Miller is scheduled to have surgery on January 12.
Sources tell me that the Senator had a fender bender last month and that the surgery is the result of something discovered when she was examined for the accident. I understand that the surgery is not related to the accident, however.
Senator Miller, 76, has served in the General Assembly since 1984. She was the first African American woman elected to both the House of Delegates (1984) and the Senate (1988). Her car sports the number 4, which reflects her rank in seniority in the Senate – only three others have been there longer.
Senator Phillip Puckett will chair the Senate Transportation Committee in her absence.
I wish the Senator a speedy recovery. We need her voice – and her vote – in the Senate.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Although I know it’s know not possible, there needs to be some way for a substitute legislator. It’s not fair for her district to not have representation for 2011.
I wish there were a mechanism for handling situations like this. Of course, I’d like to think that, even though we elect by district, the entire Senate (in this case) represents the whole.
🙂