Ohio congressman Max Miller faces abuse allegations as GOP weighs ballot move

Rep. Max Miller said he would stay in the race after domestic abuse allegations from his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, pushed Ohio Republicans into a fast-moving debate over whether to keep him on the November ballot. The Republican from Ohio’s 7th Congressional District faced a Wednesday deadline to remove his name and replace him with another GOP candidate.

Bernie Moreno, Miller’s former father-in-law and now a U.S. senator, publicly urged Miller to resign and said he "should not serve" in the House. Miller rejected the allegations in a livestream statement, saying, "I categorically deny abusing my former wife." He also said he would not drop out of the reelection race.

The dispute carried added weight because Miller was serving his second term in the House and sat on the Committee on Ways and Means, including the Subcommittee on Oversight and the Subcommittee on Work & Welfare. He had also been a White House aide under President Donald Trump, but Trump did not call for his resignation as the controversy escalated.

Republican leaders were privately weighing whether to stand by Miller or move to replace him before the ballot deadline, a choice that laid bare the gap between the party’s public law-and-order and family-values language and the limited action taken so far. So far, the response from top Republicans had been cautious, even as the allegations put Miller’s reelection effort under sharp scrutiny.

Democrats saw an opening in northeast Ohio, where the district had been considered Republican-leaning but newly competitive. Some GOP voters remained loyal to Miller despite the allegations, underscoring how the fight over his future had become both a test of party discipline and a risk to the Republican hold on a seat that could matter in the battle for the House majority.