Special election to be held for 20th District Assembly seat

A special election will be held April 7 to fill the vacancy in the 20th District created by the resignation of Assemb. Melissa Miller, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced.

Miller, a 57-year-old Atlantic Beach resident, said earlier this month that she will fill a vacancy on the Hempstead Town Board created when Bruce Blakeman won election as Nassau County executive and left the board.

"As Melissa Miller leaves the New York State Assembly to join the Hempstead Town Board, a special election will be held to ensure representation for the 20th District," Hochul said in a release Friday night.

She added, "I thank Melissa for her years of service to New York State and look forward to working with the new 20th Assemblymember to tackle Long Island's most pressing issues and deliver for New Yorkers."

As Hochul is currently out of the state, Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin issued the order for the special election pursuant to the New York State Constitution.

Miller was halfway through her third two-year term in the chamber.

Before she won an Assembly election in 2016, Miller, whose son has a severe form of epilepsy and uses a wheelchair, was a presence at the State Capitol with a group of activists pushing lawmakers to legalize medical marijuana.

By Craig Schneider

craig.schneider@newsday.com@Scraigo

Craig Schneider is a Long Island native and Stony Brook University alumnus. He joined Newsday as a general assignment reporter in January 2018 after 20 years at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.