SERIO OUT; PATAKI NOMINATES MILLS:

New York Superintendent of Insurance Gregory Serio has stepped down and Gov. George Pataki has nominated Howard Mills, former Republican assemblyman from Orange County who lost the recent race for U.S. Senate against incumbent Sen. Charles Schumer (D), to be the next superintendent. Until his confirmation by the Senate, Mills, who was named deputy superintendent in early January, will be acting superintendent. Serio, who has served as the state’s insurance chief since first being nominated by Pataki in April 2001, is joining a lobbying firm headed by former U.S. Sen. Alphonse D’Amato. A lifelong Republican, Mills began his career in public service as an aide to Congressman Benjamin Gilman. Mills was first elected to the New York State Assembly in 1998, representing portions of Orange and Rockland Counties. He has served as deputy minority leader of the Assembly and on the insurance committee.