Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, reportedly refuses to end his reelection campaign, defying a looming deadline for Republicans to replace him on the ballot amid domestic abuse allegations by his ex-wife.
Monday at 4 p.m. is the deadline for Republican officials to find a replacement candidate, a spokesman for the Ohio secretary of state told MS NOW on Sunday.
But the embattled Ohio congressman so far is ignoring calls from members of his own party to step aside in light of accusations by his ex-wife that Miller physically assaulted her and their toddler daughter. The abuse accusations, which have exposed a family feud between two prominent Ohio Republican lawmakers, have caused a larger rift between Republicans and put a once solidly GOP seat in play for Democrats.
A spokeswoman for Miller told The New York Times that the congressman plans to stay in the race. She did not immediately reply to a request for comment from MS NOW on Sunday about his plans.
Miller, a former aide to President Donald Trump, said the president expressed his own doubts about the Ohio Republican’s chances of winning in a phone call last week. “He said, ‘I don’t know if you’re going to be able to, you know, pull this one out,’” Miller told CNN, quoting Trump.
Sens. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, and Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., explicitly called on Miller to resign. And Miller’s former father-in-law, Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, has angrily denounced Miller’s alleged treatment of his daughter and granddaughter and said he “should not serve in the House of Representatives.”
The House Ethics Committee launched an investigation into Miller last week, shortly after Miller said he personally requested it.
Emily Moreno, Miller’s ex-wife, has accused Miller of throwing hot water on her, holding a gun to her head and fracturing their young daughter’s collarbone, among other allegations, which Miller has denied.
Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham — who was in a romantic relationship with Miller in 2019 and 2020 — filed for a temporary restraining order against him last week, alleging that he had violated terms of a settlement they reached after he sued her for defamation over an op-ed in The Washington Post in which she wrote about an abusive former boyfriend.
In response to a lengthy video Miller posted to social media last week in an attempt to clear his name, Sen. Moreno called Miller’s behavior “increasingly erratic and dangerous.”
Moreno also condemned Miller for sharing sensitive photos of his granddaughter in a trove of files he publicly released to support his claims. Miller’s lawyer, Aaron Minc, took responsibility on Tuesday for the error.
Miller is set to face Democrat Brian Poindexter, an ironworker, in the November general election.
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