Ironworker challenges Rep. Max Miller as the Ohio congressman fights to hold seat amid abuse claims

BROOK PARK, Ohio (AP) — Janie Grosjean was torn about voting for embattled Republican Rep. Max Miller this year.

The 75-year-old from Wooster, a historic college town in Miller's northeast Ohio district, has led an interdenominational women's Bible study for nearly three decades. She has been alarmed at allegations of domestic abuse against Miller by his ex-wife and more than one ex-girlfriend , leading some of his colleagues in Congress over the summer to say he should step down .

Both of Ohio's U.S. senators, fellow Republicans Jon Husted and Bernie Moreno , Miller's former father-in-law, said Miller was unfit to serve in Congress. The House has opened an ethics investigation .

Despite her reservations, Grosjean voted a straight GOP ticket when it came time to fill out her ballot. She said the Republican Party is pursuing the “biblically based” platform she wants to support.

“I'm very disappointed in the things that have come out, but I went ahead and voted for him, anyway,” she said outside the Wayne County early voting center last week. “That was my decision, because of the background of what the parties believe.”

It's the kind of response that Miller, 43, and other Republicans are hoping for as they try to hold their majority in the U.S. House amid deep anxiety over rising costs and the war in Iran.

Miller's has been a safe GOP-leaning district, but it is one Democrats now feel optimistic they can flip . Their candidate is Brian Poindexter, a 46-year-old union ironworker who has attracted a strong following among the many service and manufacturing workers in Ohio's 7th Congressional District.

“I've been able to reach that blue-collar guy, that union guy that Democrats have lost,” Poindexter said recently while wrapping up a campaign appearance focused on high gas prices — across from a Circle K, where unleaded subject to a gas tax holiday was selling for $3.68 per gallon — in Brook Park, the Cleveland suburb where he was a longtime councilman. “I'm overwhelmed that people from all over the political spectrum have decided to jump on board and say, ‘Hey, I want to support this guy.’”

Miller defied bipartisan calls in August to step aside and proceeded with his reelection campaign , likening his situation in a CNN interview to the notorious “Access Hollywood” tape that was leaked during Trump's first run for the White House in 2016, when Trump ultimately defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton.

It was believed then that Trump's chance at winning had evaporated, Miller said: “But guess what? He stayed in, and he was resilient.”

In ads, Democratic-aligned groups have hammered Miller over the abuse allegations leveled by his former wife, the senator's daughter Emily Moreno. Her allegations include claims that he threw boiling water at her and held a gun to her head, as well as details of an investigation into their 2-year-old daughter's broken collarbone.

Miller denies the abuse charges and has filed defamation lawsuits against Emily Moreno and ex-girlfriend Stephanie Grisham , a one-time White House press secretary who accused him of physical abuse. Grisham more recently sued Miller for violating the settlement agreement in that case.

In a recent campaign video posted to his X account, Miller addressed the allegations by acknowledging the “painful reality” of divorce and saying, “My family’s heartbreak has made national news because that is the nature of politics.” He noted that he still shares custody of his daughter.

Both major political parties are pouring money into the race.

House Majority PAC, the super PAC affiliated with House Democrats, has committed more than $6 million for ads in the Cleveland area to boost Poindexter. Its Republican counterpart, the Congressional Leadership Fund, has booked more than $5.5 million in TV airtime, according to AdImpact, which tracks ad spending. Each candidate also is spending on ads.

Miller's is not a seat Republicans initially thought they would need to defend. Trump won the district by 11 percentage points against Democrat Kamala Harris in 2024, the year Miller won a solid 51% of the vote in a three-way contest. Miller's opponents were Democrat Matthew Diemer and former eight-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who ran as an independent and this year has endorsed Poindexter.

Miller got into politics at Trump's behest in 2021. He was a White House aide in Trump's first term, when the president hand-picked the scion of the Ratner family, which made a fortune in Cleveland real estate, to challenge U.S. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez. The congressman was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach the president after his followers violently attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Gonzalez opted to leave politics rather than endure a tough primary fight against Miller.

Though he has endorsed Miller, Trump's praise of him has been far less glowing since the summer. With the spotlight turned on his domestic troubles, Miller was not among the Republicans the president featured on stage at a rally in Youngstown last week, though he did attend.

“Thank you, Max, for coming,” Trump said to Miller, as he sat in the audience. “Thank you. Very good.”

Mary Wright-Ally and Susan Scheutzow, who both run Cleveland-area small businesses, said they are voting for Poindexter for many more reasons than just the allegations Miller faces over his treatment of women. They said their livelihoods and those of their customers have been hit hard by rising gas prices and Trump's tariffs . They also are angry over Miller's steady support for the war in Iran .

“I am a pro-union Democrat, old-school. I'm also anti-Max Miller. Max Miller drove a BMW to high school,” Wright-Ally said. “He has never had to worry about the cost of gas in his life. He's old money. He doesn't understand the plight of working people. He never had to worry about lunch money for his kids.”

She said Poindexter, who has called on Miller to oppose the war, will do a better job representing district residents.

Therese Mennell, 71, of Creston, said it's the Democrats who have become increasingly out of touch with average Americans, including by failing to support the Trump administration's stepped-up immigration enforcement .

“Oh, I'm all about ICE,” she said, calling U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's recent sweeps necessary for the nation's safety.

She said this year she voted for Republicans, including Miller. That's despite the low public profile he's kept in the district since summer, rarely promoting any public events and focusing most of his efforts on appearances before fellow Republicans.

Neither Miller's congressional office nor his campaign responded to repeated requests by The Associated Press for an interview and access to his campaign events.

In an Oct. 7 guest column in the Akron Beacon Journal, Miller touted his record in Congress supporting the Trump agenda — including border security, increased deportations and certain tax cuts — and introducing bills to provide tax relief to fraud victims and expanded education opportunities for foster youths.

For Scheutzow, Miller's initial support for the war in Iran and his opposition to war powers resolutions is a deal-breaker.

She said she also aligns with Poindexter in opposing Trump's tariffs, which have seriously affected her small business, a combined art space and bakery where the price of European chocolate for her truffles is up 50%.

“This economy," she said, “is just killing us all.”