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To: Interested Parties
From: Riya Vashi, DCCC Regional Press Secretary
Date: May 5, 2026
Subject: The Case Against Max Miller
Brian Poindexter’s working class story is the story of Northeast Ohio. The son of a union machinist and grandson of an autoworker, Brian started working at 15 and has spent his life in factories, on job sites, and behind the wheel as a long-haul truck driver. A union ironworker, a proud dad, and a Brook Park City Councilman since 2017, Brian brings the same pro-worker values to public service that he learned on the jobsite. He’s running for Congress because working families in OH-07 deserve a real seat at the table and because the economy should work for the people who power it, not just the wealthy and well-connected.
Max Miller is the embodiment of an out-of-touch, silver spoon politician. A multimillionaire heir to one of Cleveland’s most powerful real estate dynasties, Miller has never worked a day in a factory, pulled a double shift, or had to worry about grocery costs. What he has done is rack up a criminal record, face abuse allegations from his former partners and classmates, lie about his résume, help plan the January 6th rally that preceded a deadly insurrection at the Capitol — and then loan himself over a million dollars to buy himself a seat in Congress while claiming a D.C. condo as his primary residence.
In Congress, Miller has picked up exactly where he left off — cashing in on his connections while selling out OH-07. He’s voted with his D.C. party bosses to gut health care and food assistance for his own constituents, cheered on tariffs driving up costs for working families, and ballooned his multi-million dollar portfolio while Ohioans struggle with soaring grocery and utility bills. In a district that’s become competitive as costs climb by the day, voters are ready to reject a rich D.C. insider who has forgotten where he came from and send a real Ohio fighter like Brian Poindexter to Congress instead.
The Nepo Baby Millionaire Who Bought His Seat in Congress
Max Miller’s entire political career is a story about what money can buy. The descendant of a Cleveland real estate empire that sold for a reported $6.8 billion in 2018 — Miller has never known a world where hard work was the path to anything. He used nothing more than his family name to open every door: his cousin got him his first job on a presidential campaign, his family’s connections carried him into the White House, and his inherited fortune has funded the life he’s lived ever since — one defined by Hermès accessories, a two-door Porsche, and a $735,000 condo in D.C. that he’s called home for the majority of the past decade.
When Miller decided to run for Congress, he didn’t move to the district because he had deep ties to it, he moved there because it was politically convenient, buying a house in Rocky River while still claiming his Washington, D.C. apartment as his primary residence. When it came time to run, Miller simply bought the race — loaning $550,000 of his personal family money to his own campaign and jetting off to Mar-A-Lago to fundraise, where even GOP insiders were complaining that “you can’t win a primary in the middle of Ohio from Palm Beach.” Since arriving in Congress, Miller has focused his time on enriching himself, trading over a million dollars in shares.
Brian Poindexter has spent his life on the other side of the ‘buy your way into power’ equation: on job sites, in factories, organizing for fair pay, and training the next generation of tradespeople in Northeast Ohio. Ohio voters know the difference between someone who has lived their story and someone who has bought his way into the headline.
A Lifelong Pattern of Lies, Abuse, and Dangerous Behavior
Max Miller’s track record, even before coming to Congress, is disqualifying. Miller’s ex-girlfriend, former White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham, described their relationship as “abusive” in her published memoir. According to reporting from Politico, Miller pushed Grisham “against a wall and slapped her in the face” in his D.C. apartment, threw a dog toy at her, and grabbed her at the elevator as she tried to leave after arguments. Miller’s response to his ex-girlfriend speaking out? He sued her for defamation and tried to silence her by asking for a temporary restraining order, which was denied. Miller’s ex-wife, Emily Moreno, also accused him of abusing drugs. This disgusting behavior isn’t new for Miller. In high school, three witnesses told Politico, Miller pushed a teenage girl down a flight of stairs in his family home after she resisted his attempts to touch her. “Everybody knew about it,” one classmate said. “It’s right in line with kind of who he was.”
Miller’s criminal record is just as damning — and just as shielded by family money. Miller has been charged with assault, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest after punching a man and fleeing police in 2007; cited for speeding twice in 2007 and 2008; cited for criminal mischief after smashing through a glass door during a 2 a.m. confrontation outside a hookah bar in 2010; and, in April 2011, charged with Ohio’s equivalent of a DUI after crashing into a light pole at Miami University at 8:55 in the morning, with bloodshot eyes, reeking of alcohol, and — by his own admission to police — having “woke up in urine-soaked pants.” Multiple crimes were quietly pleaded down to something lesser or sealed.
When Miller couldn’t buy his way out of something, he lied about it. Miller lied on his LinkedIn about when he graduated from Cleveland State University and falsely claimed to be a Marine recruiter when he was only a reservist — scrubbing both claims after the Washington Post caught him. On the campaign trail, he lied to Ohio voters at a Trump rally, claiming to have led Trump administration negotiations in North Korea and Afghanistan, when in reality, he was a low-level aide in the White House personnel and advance offices.
Miller Voted to Rip Away Health Care and Raise Costs on His Constituents
While OH-07 families struggle with higher prices at the grocery store, soaring utility bills, and a struggling health care system, Max Miller has only made things worse. Miller voted for the Big, Ugly Bill — Republicans’ disastrous, cost-raising package that’s threatening to strip health care from over 21,000 people in OH-07 in order to deliver massive tax breaks to his billionaire donors and corporate allies. But Miller’s Big, Ugly Bill doesn’t stop with gutting health care. The bill also endangers food assistance for more than 21,000 OH-07 households already stretched thin by Miller-backed policies, making it harder for Ohio families to put food on the table.
Miller isn’t just backing extreme policies that hurt Ohioans’ wallets, he’s backing policies that threaten his constituents’ livelihoods. Miller voted in support of the sweeping tariffs that are driving up the cost of everything from groceries to building materials to appliances, estimated to cost the average family $2,500 in higher costs this year. Meanwhile, OH-07’s manufacturing and energy sectors are feeling the squeeze, and Miller has done nothing but cheer it on from behind the wheel of his Porsche.
The through-line is simple: whenever Max Miller has to pick between his OH-07 constituents and protecting his DC party bosses and wealthy and well-connected lifestyle, he picks D.C. every time. Brian Poindexter has spent his life doing the opposite — organizing workers, training apprentices, and fighting for an economy that works for the people who power it. That’s the clear choice for voters this November.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
The Guardian: An iron worker takes on one of Trump’s most loyal followers in Congress [The Guardian, 4/18/26]
“Four years after he won that race – with affordability, growth and jobs still in sharp focus – Miller could face a significant challenge for the seat from a union iron worker, as the Democratic party battles to retake the majority in the House of Representatives.
“Poindexter is running as a working-class counter to Miller’s wealthy background, one of several union members who have launched congressional campaigns ahead of the 2026 midterms.”
National Journal: Meet the Democrats’ new working-class heroes [National Journal, 2/11/26]
“Poindexter has made his working-class roots front and center in his run for Ohio’s deep-red 7th District, to the point where his campaign logo features two wrenches. Beginning working at a machine shop at age 15, Poindexter said he’s worked his fair share of jobs in factories and kitchens, driving a truck, and as a unionized ironworker. Through that experience, he said he’s found that “the laws in this country are stacked against working people.”
Roll Call: Democrats see opportunity in Ohio beyond battleground House seats [Roll Call, 1/27/26]
“In a seat south of Cleveland, Democrat Brian Poindexter says his working-class perspective and job as a union ironworker bolsters his connection with economically anxious voters across party lines.”
Politico Magazine: ‘He’s a Great Guy’: Trump’s Favored Aide Has Troubled Past [Politico Magazine, 7/28/21]
“Miller, 32, is the poster child of Trump’s post-impeachment retribution tour. He’s not merely a loyalist—he’s a loyalist who worked on both Trump campaigns as well as in the White House and used proximity to the president to foster by all accounts an actual affinity and rapport. He’s not just one of Trump’s “Complete and Total” House endorsements—he was the first.
“‘An incredible patriot,’ Trump said, ‘who I know very well.’ Maybe not well enough, according to police records, court records and interviews with more than 60 people. Ranging from people who grew up with Miller in the affluent Cleveland inner suburb of Shaker Heights to those he worked with and for in the White House and on Trump’s campaigns—some of whom were granted anonymity because they fear retaliation from Miller, Trump or both—these people told me Miller can be a cocky bully with a quick-trigger temper.”
Cleveland.com: Ohio congressional candidate Max Miller’s tax records show he claims his principal residence is in Washington, D.C. [Cleveland.com, 7/1/21]
Daily Beast: MAGA Congressman’s Wife Accuses Him of Being on Drugs [Daily Beast, 8/5/24]
PATH TO VICTORY
In 2024, Max Miller won OH-07 with just 51% of the vote, a nearly 5-point collapse from his first election in 2022. That downward trend is the clearest signal yet that voters are fed up with a self-serving, multimillionaire nepo baby who has spent his time in Congress serving Donald Trump and his own bank account instead of the working families of Northeast Ohio.
A union ironworker, Brook Park City Councilman, and lifelong Northeast Ohioan, Brian Poindexter reflects the values of OH-07 in a way Max Miller never has and never will. His path to victory runs through the same communities that backed Senator Sherrod Brown by more than 4.5 points in 2018 and came within a hair of carrying Brown to victory last cycle. With a candidate like Poindexter on the ticket, the path is wide open.
Poindexter has already built the exact kind of broad coalition it takes to flip this seat. He has earned the endorsement of former Congressman Tim Ryan, Senator Bernie Sanders, and the backing of Ohio’s major labor unions — a powerful coalition of working Ohioans that Max Miller will never be able to match. Poindexter has also raised more from Ohio donors than Miller this year, a direct rebuke of a candidate who has spent his career cashing checks from D.C. insiders while grassroots Ohioans are powering Poindexter’s campaign.
When the race to represent working-class Northeast Ohio is between a union ironworker backed by everyday Ohioans and a millionaire nepo baby propped up by Beltway donors, OH-07 picks its own every time. This November, voters will finish the job and send Brian Poindexter to Congress.
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