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A deadline came and went this afternoon that could shift the balance of power in Washington—and further rip apart a prominent political family. Today at 4 was the Ohio Republican Party’s last chance to replace Rep. Max Miller, a GOP congressman accused of abuse, on the November ballot. But Miller doesn’t want to go. He denies the allegations—including from his ex-wife, a U.S. senator’s daughter—and insists he’ll stay in the race. Miller’s stubbornness echoes Donald Trump’s scandal playbook, but it may also hand Democrats his seat. Here’s how.
Hold on—“Max Miller” sounds like a fictional Republican politician. Who is this guy?
Miller is a former Marine Corps Reserve corporal who worked for Trump’s 2016 campaign before joining the first Trump administration as an aide. He won a seat in Congress in 2022, the same year he and Emily Moreno—whose father is Ohio Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno, a staunch Trump ally—married at one of Trump’s golf clubs. Miller is now running for a third term.
What are the allegations against him?
They’re serious. Now divorced, Miller and Emily Moreno are involved in a custody battle over their 2-year-old daughter. Moreno has accused Miller of holding a gun to her head, shoving her against a wall, throwing scalding water at her, and fracturing their daughter’s collarbone. According to Bernie Moreno, Miller once refused to turn over a favorite stuffed animal of the couple’s daughter during a custody exchange. In a frankly stomach-churning CNN interview with Jake Tapper last week, Miller called the allegations “false and baseless”—but also couldn’t say when he last used illegal drugs and dodged responsibility for posting documents meant to exonerate him that reportedly included a partially nude photo of his toddler.
Ugly accusations often fly in custody battles, but these aren’t the first against Miller. Another ex—former White House communications official Stephanie Grisham, who dated Miller when they both worked for Trump—has also accused him of abuse. And in high school, Miller reportedly pushed a girl down a set of stairs after he tried to touch her and she resisted. Miller denies any wrongdoing, claims his ex-wife has struggled with “significant mental health challenges,” and has accused his former father-in-law of spreading “lies.”
That’s really hard to read. What have Miller’s fellow Republicans said?
Several senators have called on him to drop out—including Moreno, who said last week that his former son-in-law fails “any basic standards of character required to hold elected office.” The House Ethics Committee is investigating Miller, but so far his colleagues have largely withheld judgment. “I know Max is a good man,” fellow Ohioan Jim Jordan said. Speaker Mike Johnson, who made sure to describe himself as the “father of two daughters,” called the claims “serious” but added, “We have to allow this process to play out.” Trump, for his part, has not demanded Miller’s withdrawal. “I feel badly for him,” he said last week.
Speaking of Trump: Isn’t Miller just doing what our shameless president does every time he’s accused of something bad?
According to Miller, yes. He has referenced the “extreme allegations” Trump faced during his 2016 campaign, noting that the future president “stayed in and he was resilient.” But Miller’s refusal to bow out wasn’t a foregone conclusion, either. Two of his House GOP colleagues, Tony Gonzales of Texas and Chuck Edwards of North Carolina, recently dropped their reelection bids after allegations of inappropriate behavior with female staffers.
So Miller’s for sure going to be on the ballot?
It would seem so. After today’s deadline, there’s no mechanism to force him off. He also plans to lend his own campaign $1 million, which seems like the sort of thing you do if you intend to gut it out. And while it sounds heartless to talk politics about what’s clearly an awful situation, Miller’s decision has helped turn his seat into a pickup opportunity for Democrats.
So you say, but voters have tolerated Trump’s scandals for a decade. Why would this be different?
True, but the president’s deny-deny-deny approach hasn’t always worked for others. In 2017, the year Trump took office, Republican Roy Moore lost a Senate race in deep-red Alabama after multiple women accused him of preying on them as girls. Miller’s district favors the GOP, yet recent polls show him trailing his Democratic opponent, a city councilor and ironworker named Brian Poindexter.
But even with these horrific allegations, he could still win?
He could. Miller’s race may test whether there’s any bottom for an elected official, even one accused of hurting his own spouse and kid. It’s true that Democrats tend to take scandal in their own ranks more seriously. The party forced Eric Swalwell to resign from the House and Graham Platner to quit the Maine Senate race after they were accused of sexual assault (allegations that both denied). But in our hothouse of a two-party political system, many voters have evidently decided to put up with almost any player so long as it helps their team. “We’re going to support our nominees,” the Republican National Committee chairman said yesterday when asked about Miller, after some throat-clearing about how, in divorce, “nobody’s a winner.”
That’s some heavy news to start the week. To take your mind off things for the rest of the night, my colleagues think you should:
Join us on a time-travel adventure to the ’90s: If you’ve recently been paralyzed by choice or felt overconnected but underinvested in your friendships, Slate has an antidote for you. For the next six weeks, join us for Party Like It’s 1996. Every Monday (starting today!), you’ll receive an email from Dan Kois with instructions for going out, staying in, hanging out, keeping in touch, and road-tripping like it’s 1996. If you join by Aug. 14 and are among the first 100 people to complete the challenges, we’ll send you some fun stuff in the mail. To sign up, enter your email address in the box below:
Devour some books … and pizza: Pizza Hut’s Book It! program, which rewarded children for reading with personal pan pizzas, is part of the lore of countless childhood readers turned adults. Now the Reagan-era initiative is officially back for the summer—and some adults want in on the nostalgic fun. Rainesford Stauffer explores the program’s legacy.
Sample a twist on dinner and drinks: Would you try a mojito with gazpacho or a martini with pho? These might sound like strange pairings, but, as Courtney Iseman reports, soupy cocktails are the newest trend in booze. Savory cocktails have become de rigueur in recent years, and if we’re willing to sip olive or oyster brine, why not try some broth in your drink?
Read an explainer of the year’s most bizarre rom-com: One Night Only, the buzzy new movie starring Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner, is garnering plenty of chatter—and raising plenty of questions. The film is set in an authoritarian version of America where a chastity “mandate” prohibits premarital or extramarital sex, except for a singular 12-hour period each year when everyone gets to get it on. If you’re confused by this premise, you’re not alone. Luckily, Slate’s Nadira Goffe is here to break down just how something as ridiculous as The Purge, but for sex, could possibly work.
And with that, you’ve made it through another day. Enjoy the evening, and see you tomorrow!