CLEVELAND, Ohio — Republican Rep. Max Miller lost his seat Tuesday, as Democrat Brian Poindexter won the 7th Congressional District race and flipped a northeast Ohio seat Republicans have long held.
Poindexter is a union ironworker and has served on the Brook Park City Council in the working-class Cleveland suburb. The district is one President Donald Trump would have carried by 11 points in 2024.
The race became competitive after Miller’s divorce became public. His ex-wife accused him of domestic abuse, and those allegations became the center of the campaign. Miller, 37, has denied them. He released documents and audio recordings to defend himself and refused calls over the summer to leave the race before the deadline that would have let Republicans swap in another nominee.
The House Ethics Committee said in early August it was reviewing abuse and illegal drug use allegations against Miller. It has not released any findings. Miller had said he would ask for an ethics review himself to clear his name.
Some Republicans pressed Miller to resign, among them his former father-in-law, Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio. House Speaker Mike Johnson backed his bid for another term but did not campaign with him.
Money followed the shift. Poindexter raised $2.4 million in the third quarter, according to Federal Election Commission records, while Miller raised $145,000 and lent his campaign $1 million. Democrats put millions into a race they had not expected to contest a few months earlier.
Miller, a former Trump White House aide, is finishing his second term. He broke with Trump on tariffs and backed aid to Ukraine.
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