Democrat Brian Poindexter, a union ironworker and Brook Park city council member, has defeated Republican Representative Max Miller in Ohio's 7th Congressional District, flipping a Cleveland-area seat that Republicans had held and long considered safe, CBS News projected. The Associated Press declared Poindexter the winner at 1:23 a.m. EST on Wednesday, November 4; Miller had already conceded just before midnight on Tuesday, before the AP call, the Washington Examiner reported.

Source: Associated Press, November 4, 2026

A seat Republicans expected to hold — until the campaign changed

Miller, 37, was serving his second term in the House and had previously worked as a White House aide and campaign operative in Donald Trump's first administration. He had been expected to win re-election easily in the northeastern Ohio district. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rated the contest solid Republican earlier this year — then moved it to a toss-up in August, as the circumstances of Miller's divorce became public and allegations by his ex-wife became the central issue of the campaign. In early returns, the shift was already visible: Poindexter led Miller by nearly 8 percentage points with 67 percent of the vote reported late Tuesday, The Hill said, citing Decision Desk HQ's projection.

The allegations — and Miller's denial

Miller's ex-wife, Emily Moreno, has alleged in court filings and public statements that he held a gun to her head, threw hot water on her and threw her against a wall. These are allegations, not findings: no criminal charges have been filed against Miller, and a Cuyahoga County prosecutor concluded there was insufficient admissible evidence to take the matter concerning the couple's daughter to a grand jury. Miller has vehemently denied the claims throughout. He released documents and audio recordings of conversations with Moreno in his defence, defended himself in a lengthy social media livestream — which Moreno's spokesperson, Stefan Mychajliw, called "unhinged and humiliating" — and released a television ad in mid-October denying the abuse allegations and saying he has equal custody of his daughter. The couple's divorce is finalized; their custody dispute remains ongoing.

His own party told him to step aside

Emily Moreno is the daughter of Ohio's Republican U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno. The senator accused Miller of "increasingly erratic and dangerous behavior" and said he should not serve in the House, and the Associated Press reported that both of Ohio's Republican U.S. senators urged Miller to exit the race. Miller stayed in despite calls to end his campaign before the deadline that would have allowed Republicans to replace him on the November ballot. House Speaker Mike Johnson backed Miller's bid, saying "we have to let due process play out," but did not campaign with him.

An ethics review that is still open

The House Ethics Committee announced in early August that it was reviewing allegations of domestic abuse and illegal drug use against Miller, but it had released no findings by Election Day; the bipartisan panel operates under a 60-day blackout period before an election. Miller had previously said he would request an investigation into himself to clear his name. The committee has not published any findings since the result.

Money followed the controversy

The allegations also reversed the race's money. Federal Election Commission records show Poindexter outraised Miller in the third quarter, bringing in $2.4 million to Miller's $145,000 — a striking gap for an incumbent — while Miller personally loaned his campaign $1 million. Poindexter's ads made the allegations against Miller a centerpiece of his campaign.

Who Poindexter is

Poindexter, 46, is a union ironworker and a City Council member in Brook Park, a Cleveland suburb. He beat longtime Ohio Democrat Ed FitzGerald in the primary, with endorsements from Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Ro Khanna, and ran a populist campaign built on his union background and a promise to advocate for workers; he said he disagrees with blanket tariffs but supports "targeted tariffs to protect jobs." Republicans, for their part, pointed to Poindexter's own past arrests: he said a 1999 felonious assault charge was reduced to a misdemeanor, and that he faced 2002 and 2003 misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges tied to fights at Cleveland Browns games. "I was young and dumb, but I turned my life around," he said, adding that he changed course after becoming a father at 22.

What happens next

Poindexter will take the seat when the new Congress convenes in January, joining a Democratic House majority. Election results remain unofficial until certified by Ohio election officials. For Miller, the open questions outlast the campaign: the House Ethics Committee's review has produced no public findings, and the custody dispute with his ex-wife remains before the courts. No criminal charges have been filed against him, and he continues to deny the allegations.