Democrat Brian Poindexter defeats Republican Max Miller in Ohio

Democrat Brian Poindexter has defeated Republican Rep. Max Miller in Ohio’s 7th Congressional District, flipping a seat that had appeared safely Republican before allegations of domestic abuse against Miller became central to the campaign. Miller denies the allegations.

Poindexter, a union ironworker and former Brook Park City Council member, won in a northeastern Ohio district that Donald Trump would have carried by 11 points in 2024, according to NBC News. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rated the race solid Republican earlier this year, CBS News reported, before shifting it to a toss-up in August.

Miller’s ex-wife, Emily Moreno, has accused him of holding a gun to her head, throwing hot water on her and throwing her against a wall, NBC News reported. The Guardian reported that she also alleged their young daughter suffered a broken collarbone because of Miller’s actions. Miller has denied the abuse allegations and filed a defamation case against Moreno, according to The Guardian. Their divorce was finalized in 2025, but they remain in a custody dispute, CBS News reported.

The allegations prompted calls for Miller to resign, including from Moreno’s father, Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio. “If there are any basic standards of character required to hold elected office, Max Miller fails them,” the senator said. “He should not serve in the House of Representatives.” Miller stayed in the race past the deadline that would have allowed Republicans to replace him on the ballot.

The House Ethics Committee announced in early August that it was reviewing allegations of domestic abuse and illegal drug use against Miller, CBS News reported. It has not released findings. Miller had said he would request an ethics investigation to clear his name.

Miller pushed back publicly. In a campaign ad released in mid-October, he described the coverage as his “family’s heartbreak” becoming national news and said the allegations had been “proven false time and again.” The Guardian reported that New York Magazine disputed that characterization, noting that no one was found at fault in an investigation into his daughter’s broken collarbone and that the domestic assault allegations had not been formally investigated.

Poindexter and his allies made the allegations a focus of their ads, while Republicans highlighted Poindexter’s past arrests. Poindexter told NBC News that a 1999 felonious assault charge was reduced to a misdemeanor and that he faced misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges after fights at Cleveland Browns games in 2002 and 2003. “I was young and dumb, but I turned my life around,” he said in a campaign ad.

Poindexter also campaigned on his union background, support for workers’ rights and targeted tariffs to protect jobs. According to Federal Election Commission records cited by CBS News, he raised $2.4 million in the third quarter, compared with $145,000 raised by Miller, who also loaned his campaign $1 million.

Trump endorsed Miller in the closing days of the race. House Speaker Mike Johnson backed his reelection bid, saying “we have to let due process play out,” CBS News reported.