Democrats believe they have a rare opening to flip a Republican-held U.S. House seat in Ohio as domestic abuse allegations against Rep. Max Miller intensify, according to a Washington Post report published Saturday. The second-term congressman, a former Trump campaign aide, faces mounting calls for resignation and an ethics investigation just months before the November midterms.
Miller has vehemently denied the allegations, which stem from a bitter divorce and custody battle with his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, daughter of Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio. The couple, who married at Mar-a-Lago in 2022, divorced last year and are fighting over their 2-year-old daughter.
The accusations first surfaced in May when the Daily Mail reported Moreno’s claim that Miller grabbed her, left bruises and threw scalding water at her while their infant daughter was present. The New York Post in June published recordings Miller secretly made that he argued cast doubt on her account, and CNN reported that Moreno accused Miller of holding a gun to her head. A lengthy Mother Jones feature and a New York Times story this summer brought the matter to national attention.
Giffords, the gun violence prevention group, called on Miller to resign on Wednesday, and the Democratic Women’s Caucus on Thursday demanded a House Ethics Committee investigation. A lawyer for Moreno filed for a restraining order against Miller on Thursday, citing repeated verbal and physical altercations.
Miller’s spokesperson, Abigail Angelos, noted the court has continued to permit Miller joint custody of his child, arguing that “if there were credible evidence supporting these outrageous accusations, that simply would not be the case.” Angelos said Miller “will continue to vigorously defend his reputation against false and reckless allegations designed to inflame public opinion rather than reflect reality.” Miller is expected to address the allegations this weekend.
Race handicappers have shifted the race in recent weeks. Inside Elections in June moved the seat from “Solid Republican” to “Likely Republican,” and the Cook Political Report made the same change. Sabato’s Crystal Ball moved the district from “Safe Republican” to “Likely Republican” in May and then to “Leans Republican” on Thursday, the day after the New York Times story appeared.
The political math explains Democratic optimism. Trump carried the northeastern Ohio district by 11 points in 2024, yet Miller won reelection that year with just 51 percent against a Democrat who took 36 percent and former Rep. Dennis Kucinich, running as an independent, who took 13 percent. This year Democrats have rallied behind Brian Poindexter, an ironworker and city councilman endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders and backed in his primary by a PAC aligned with moderate Blue Dog Democrats.
A June poll sponsored by Poindexter’s campaign and conducted by GBAO found Miller leading by just 1 point, 44 percent to 43 percent, with 13 percent undecided, and concluded that Miller “is not well defined yet.” Operatives in both parties caution that the allegations alone may not cost Miller the seat, and Democrats do not expect him to abandon his reelection bid.
Still, the combination of intensifying scrutiny, a credible challenger and tight statewide races in Ohio has turned a once-reliable Republican seat into one of the most watched House contests of 2026.
Sources: New York Times, The Hill, Washington Post
Author: USA Desk
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