Max Miller

WASHINGTON - A labor-backed political action committee is robocalling constituents of U.S. Rep. Max Miller to highlight domestic abuse allegations against him that the Bay Village Republican says are false.

Battleground Alliance PAC’s calls to roughly 100,000 households, which start this week, recount disputed claims that Miller poured hot water on his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, and threw his ex-girlfriend, former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, “against a wall and slapped her.”

“Now Max Miller wants your vote.” the call concludes. “He’s counting on you to forget what these women said. Don’t.”

Miller campaign spokeswoman Abigail Angelos slammed the robocalls and called on Miller’s Democratic opponent, Brian Poindexter, to disavow them. “To take action in this way is vile, desperate, and frankly untrue,” Angelos said in a statement.

The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com have reached out to Poindexter’s campaign for comment.

The district Miller represents - which includes southern and western Cuyahoga County, northern Wayne County, and all of Medina and Ashland counties - was drawn to favor Republicans, but Democrats hope Miller’s domestic difficulties will help tilt the race in their favor.

Miller said in an interview before the robocall’s launch that the abuse allegations haven’t kept him from serving his district and predicted they won’t cost him his congressional seat.

Arguing that anyone who has witnessed a contentious divorce understands false allegations can result, Miller said constituents and fellow members of Congress have been supportive and that his office has not fielded constituent calls about his marital situation.

“We are going to continue to be the voice of this district,” he said.

Miller, who filed for divorce in August of 2024, filed a defamation suit against Moreno last May accusing her of publicizing abuse allegations to destroy his professional reputation.

Moreno, the daughter of Republican U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno of Westlake, asked a Cuyahoga County judge to dismiss the lawsuit under an anti-SLAPP law that Ohio adopted last year to shield people from lawsuits meant to punish them for speaking out on matters of public concern.

Moreno’s motion to dismiss included an allegation that Miller threw hot water on her and knocked her to the floor during a June 2024 argument. Miller denies the accusation.

Miller also filed a defamation suit in 2021 against Grisham, whom Miller dated when both were White House aides during President Donald Trump’s first term. Miller dropped the lawsuit after he was elected.

Earlier this month, Grisham filed a lawsuit against Miller that accuses him of violating the terms of their settlement in the defamation lawsuit by publicly discussing her during his dispute with Moreno.

“Two women have accused Max Miller of putting his hands on them, and his answer was not to explain himself; it was to sue them both and go after his ex-wife in public,” said a statement from Battleground Alliance spokesman Andrew Grossman. “He is betting the people of the 7th District will have forgotten every bit of this by November, but households in this district deserve to hear it and decide for themselves.”

Battleground Alliance PAC was formed last year to help Democrats take control of the U.S. House of Representatives. A May press statement from the group said it will be active in roughly 40 districts around the country, including Miller’s district and districts currently represented by Republican U.S. Reps. Mike Turner of Dayton and Mike Carey of Columbus.

Its backers include the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Communications Workers of America (CWA), and International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) unions, the Working Families Party, and the Center for Popular Democracy.

Its filings at the Federal Election Commission show it has raised around $1.13 million and spent $1.1 million since it was established.

Its donations include $500,000 from SEIU’s political arm, $250,000 from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees’ PAC and a combined $70,000 from and two Communications Workers of America PACs.

The anti-Miller calls are not Battleground Alliance PAC’s first robocall campaign. Last month, it made robocalls to 60,000 constituents of New Jersey’s U.S. Rep. Tom Kean Jr., highlighting his months-long absence from Congress.

Federal Election Commission reports filed last week showed Miller with a $1 million cash advantage over Poindexter, a union ironworker and Brook Park council member.

PACs funded by artificial intelligence groups and aligned with Blue Dog Democrats poured more than $600,000 into May’s eight-way Democratic primary contest to help Poindexter win. A PAC funded by some of Miller’s family members spent around $60,000 on messages to oppose a candidate Poindexter defeated in that race, former Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald.

While Miller’s district demographically favors Republicans by 11 percentage points, political handicappers slightly tightened their ratings of the race after the domestic abuse claims surfaced.

In May, political prognosticators at Sabato’s Crystal Ball shifted its rating of the race from “Safe Republican” to “Likely Republican.”

Observing that the district demographically favors Republicans by 11 percentage points, it called the race “a deep sleeper.”