Ironworker Brian Poindexter Upsets Rep. Max Miller in Ohio’s 7th District

Democrat Brian Poindexter, a union ironworker and Brook Park city councilman, has defeated Republican U.S. Rep. Max Miller in Ohio’s 7th Congressional District, flipping a Northeast Ohio seat that had leaned Republican for years. The Associated Press declared Poindexter the winner at 1:23 a.m. Wednesday, with Poindexter at 180,614 votes to Miller’s 148,177 and 98.9 percent of precincts reporting. The Wall Street Journal reported that President Donald Trump carried the district by 11 points in 2024, when Miller won a second term by roughly 15 points.

The district covers all of Medina and Ashland counties and parts of Cuyahoga and Wayne counties. According to the Akron Beacon Journal, Miller won the smaller counties — Medina, Ashland and Wayne — but Poindexter defeated him in Cuyahoga County, the district’s population center, where many precincts were still being counted at 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to unofficial results reported by the Beacon Journal.

Poindexter will arrive in Washington with an unusual biography. According to the North Shore AFL-CIO, he is an Ironworkers Local 17 member, a 20-year ironworker and a former apprentice training coordinator, and he serves on Brook Park City Council. The federation said he emerged from a seven-candidate primary as the centerpiece of its Labor Slate. His campaign centered on affordability, health care and labor issues.

Poindexter celebrated at his Parma campaign headquarters, the Beacon Journal reported. “I have worked my entire life, and I understand how much working people are getting squeezed in this economy,” Poindexter said, in remarks reported by the Akron Beacon Journal. That squeeze — rising prices, health care costs and job security — was his core argument throughout the campaign.

Miller conceded late Tuesday night. “I am disappointed at this evening’s election results,” Miller said in a statement on X, quoted by the Akron Beacon Journal. “I have fought earnestly to continue to represent the interests of my home and community in the Ohio 7th District.” The Washington Examiner reported Miller conceded just before midnight, before the AP formally called the race.

The campaign was overshadowed by allegations made against Miller by his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, the daughter of Ohio Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno, with whom Miller is in a custody dispute, the Beacon Journal reported. Miller denied the abuse allegations, stayed in the race and put $1 million of his own money into it, according to the Beacon Journal. The newspaper also reported that Miller has not been charged in connection with the allegations, that he is suing Moreno for defamation, and that he is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee.

The timeline of the flip shows how fast a safe seat became a toss-up. After the seven-candidate primary, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added Poindexter in August to its Red to Blue program, and the Cook Political Report rated the race a toss-up, the Beacon Journal reported. By the final Federal Election Commission reports, Poindexter had brought in more than $3 million, compared with Miller’s $1.7 million, and held more than $1 million in cash against Miller’s $122,835, according to the Beacon Journal’s review of those reports.

The closing weeks were bruising. According to the Beacon Journal, Summit County Sheriff Kandy Fatheree appeared in a Poindexter ad saying Miller “does not belong in power” because of the allegations, and Miller’s attorneys threatened to sue Cleveland stations to stop it, though no suit was filed. Miller’s side aired an ad suggesting Poindexter faced a recent criminal charge; Poindexter responded that it was a traffic citation for which he paid a $147 fine, the Beacon Journal reported.

Organized labor claimed the result as a landmark. “Working people deserve a seat at the table,” North Shore AFL-CIO Executive Secretary Brian Pearson said in the federation’s election-night release. “Too often, decisions are made that affect our lives without working people in the room.” The federation said union members knocked on more than 50,000 doors at union households across Cuyahoga, Lake and Geauga counties beginning in August, and that fifteen union members and spouses won elections across the region Tuesday.

What we know — and what we’re still waiting on. What we know: the Associated Press has called the district for Poindexter with a lead of more than 32,000 votes, Miller has conceded, and the county split is confirmed in unofficial results reported by the Beacon Journal. It capped a long Northeast Ohio election night, where, in related coverage, Akron voters approved housing and police oversight charter amendments. Still waiting: certified results from the Medina, Ashland, Cuyahoga and Wayne county boards of elections, and Poindexter’s first stated priorities for the new Congress.

The Beacon Journal reported that Miller and Moreno have a custody trial scheduled to begin November 5 in Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court, where they share custody of their daughter and both seek sole custody. The newspaper also reported the House Ethics Committee investigation remains open, with no resolution announced in election-night reporting. No allegation is treated here as proven.

What happens next is procedural. The four county boards will complete their canvasses and certify the results, and Ohio’s congressional winners are seated when the new Congress convenes in January. For district residents, the practical change is a first-term Democratic congressman, backed by organized labor and elected on affordability and health care, replacing a two-term Republican in a district drawn to lean the other way.