Max Miller

Max Miller, left, and his Democratic challenger, Brian PoindexterMother Jones; Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/ZUMA; Jeff Swensen/Getty

Max Miller, left, and his Democratic challenger, Brian PoindexterMother Jones; Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/ZUMA; Jeff Swensen/Getty

Sipping on an iced caramel latte with whipped cream and talking about “squadding up” with his daughters on Fortnite, Brian Poindexter doesn’t necessarily fit the stereotype of a “manly man,” which is how another magazine characterized the congressional candidate in mid-July.

For what it’s worth, it’s his political opponent, Republican Rep. Max Miller, who recently testified about taking testosterone and frequenting half-a-dozen different gyms. Whatever muscles Poindexter has, he confirms, are the result of 19 years spent placing rebar and erecting the steel skeletons of buildings, and before that, working as a cross-country mover for people with too much Ethan Allen furniture.

“I figured out what armoire is French for,” he told me at a coffee shop in late August. “Heavy as heck.”

With a hearty catalogue of dad jokes, Poindexter is running for a seat representing northeastern Ohio as an inversion of Miller, an heir to a real estate fortune whose campaign has been overshadowed by serious domestic disputes in his personal life. So despite being divorced himself, Poindexter is positioning himself as a family man who has paid his dues helping his blue-collar community of Brook Park as a city council member for the past nine years.

He begins our interview by telling me about his kids: His oldest daughter is 25. She works in accounting, and is—he’s excited to share—newly engaged. He has another daughter who is 19, a college sophomore studying nursing. (By the way, did I know the Trump administration tried to remove nursing from the professional degree list? “Kind of upsetting. Nurses are very much professionals,” he said.) Poindexter’s long-term partner (he got divorced in 2022) also has a high-schooler whom Poindexter calls his “bonus daughter.”

“Everyone knows me as a father of two daughters, but I want to make sure I include her because she’s a good kid and I’m proud of her too,” said Poindexter.

I haven’t met them, but I’ve seen them star in an advertisement for their dad. They call him “dorky,” make fun of his dance moves, and thank him for being a present community member and parent. “He always shows up… For family dinner. For games. For help with homework—even when he’s not helpful,” the three girls say, laughing.

Poindexter is running as an inversion of Miller, an heir to a real estate fortune whose campaign has been overshadowed by serious domestic disputes in his personal life.

It is an unsubtle rebuke of Miller, whose ex-wife, Emily Moreno, has accused him of throwing boiling water at her, holding a gun against her head, and shoving her against a wall. According to court filings Mother Jones reported on extensively in July, some of these alleged incidents occurred in front of their child. The documents also showed that Moreno was worried that Miller could have caused their two-year-old’s broken collarbone. She told police their daughter was in Miller’s custody when the injury happened. Child abuse investigators said the bruising near the injury resembled a “handprint,” making the injury “suspicious.” Miller had previously been accused of slapping a girlfriend, and pushing a girl down the stairs while in high school. Accusations that would give many parents pause.

Miller has repeatedly denied having ever been violent towards women or his child, and the investigation into possible child abuse was ultimately “unsubstantiated.” But for a moment, over the summer, the series of allegations seemed like they might force him out of the race. His former father-in-law and fellow Ohio Republican, Sen. Bernie Moreno, said Miller “should not serve in the House of Representatives” and that he needed “serious psychological help.”

As evidence of Miller’s alleged depravity, Sen. Moreno accused Miller of withholding a stuffed animal from a toddler. “My granddaughter, she has a little blue bunny that she sleeps with. Max would not hand over the little blue bunny. Literally held it hostage for 48 hours,” Moreno told reporters. “This girl is crying at night because she can’t sleep without her little blue bunny. And his answer is, ‘I’m just not going to give it to you.’” (Miller called Moreno’s characterization “lies,” but Mother Jones obtained texts showing there were multiple incidents in which Miller withheld the stuffed animal.)

When Miller declined to drop out in time for another Republican to replace him on the ballot, Cook Political Report shifted the race from “likely Republican” to “toss-up” in a region that Trump and Miller both won handily in 2024. The odds were suddenly looking much better for Poindexter, who had launched his long-shot campaign out of the garage of his buddy-turned-campaign-manager. Though far from an indication of how people in the district tend to vote, Polymarket shows 89 percent of wagerers think Poindexter will win. A poll from early August showed Poindexter ahead of Miller by 8 points. David Niven, a political science professor at the University of Cincinnati, called the race a “tremendous lesson in the importance of candidate quality.”

“Republicans should be strong, and they have the most loathed incumbent in probably Ohio congressional history running on the Republican banner,” Niven said.

But back in late August, Poindexter was increasingly worried that the Miller controversy could wind up hurting him. What was once a low-profile race between a small town’s city council member and a well-resourced incumbent was now a frequent topic on CNN. The extra attention invited powerful Republicans to come to Miller’s defense—and eventually, dredge up things from Poindexter’s past.

The White House pleaded for House Republicans not to wage a “public pressure campaign” against Miller. President Donald Trump, whom Miller worked for as a campaign and White House aide, called Miller a “good guy.” House Speaker Mike Johnson demurred when asked if he thought the allegations of physical abuse were disqualifying. “People have domestic disputes. It’s part of being flawed humans, as we are,” the Louisiana Republican told Politico.

“I hope he wins reelection. He’s done a good job as a member of Congress,” said Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).

Of course, people outside the district weighed in to support Poindexter too. When we spoke, I brought up a new advertisement by the anti-Trump Lincoln Project. The one-minute spot featured an ominous voice flipping through screengrab after screengrab of court documents and headlines that detailed the serious allegations Miller faces, concluding that he’s a “domestic abuser” who “belongs in jail.”

I had sort of expected Poindexter to be pleased by their marketing work; a group founded by Republicans who rebuked Trump was spending $20,000 to batter his Republican opponent. The video cost Poindexter and his campaign $0. Since he didn’t make the advertisement, he didn’t even have to worry about a potential defamation lawsuit from his highly litigious opponent. But Poindexter seemed dejected.

“I did see the ad and I’m not a fan,” the 47-year-old Democrat told me. “What I don’t want to happen is make this a bigger fight. Then they start dumping resources into it.”

By “they,” Poindexter meant moneyed interests. And he was right. The Congressional Leadership Fund and National Republican Congressional Committee quickly got involved, dumping more than $5 million into the district in the final months of the contest.

Those millions were largely spent on media buys painting Poindexter as the dangerous one. At least two ads focused on a police report from the 1990s, which alleged Poindexter tried to “swallow a rock of suspected crack cocaine during a police stop.” One of the ads characterized that incident as part of a “30-year rap sheet for drugs and violence” with charges as re