Congress

Max Miller insists he can win again — but warns in court filings he’s bleeding union support and cash

Published

1 month ago

August 19, 2026

GOP Rep. Max Miller is fretting that the loss of support from a key constituency could damage his reelection prospects — even as his party base continues to stand with him in spite of serious allegations of domestic abuse centered on his ex-wife and young child.

Miller is claiming that multiple unions are turning their backs on him as he seeks a third term in office — a result, he argues, of allegations raised in his ongoing public marital dispute with his ex-wife Emily Moreno, the daughter of Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno.

“A lobbyist for a trade union informed me by text message that the union was withdrawing its support for my campaign because of these allegations,” Miller wrote in a July 8 affidavit — part of the defamation lawsuit he has brought against his ex-wife following a May 7 Daily Mail report on allegations that Miller, among other things, attacked Moreno with scalding hot water. Miller denies the claims.

“Representatives of two other organizations that had supported my campaign likewise informed me or my campaign that their support was ending because of these allegations,” he continued. “One labor union’s international organization notified me in writing that it will endorse my opponent in the November 2026 general election, citing my personal circumstances.”

“Based on those organizations’ typical levels of support, I estimate the withdrawn organizational support at approximately $30,000, in addition to lost personal contributions from individual donors who have told me or my campaign that they will not contribute because of these allegations,” Miller said, going on to conclude that in total his re-election campaign would cost about $2.5 million to $3 million — up from $1.4 million prior to the need to defend himself from the claims.

The anxiety comes as Miller is running in a now-competitive district against Democrat Brian Poindexter, a city councilman and member of the local ironworkers union. Poindexter has been leaning on his labor bona fides and focusing on workers rights, as organized labor has emerged as a critical voting bloc across the Cleveland-area district.

Unions make up 11.6% of wage and salary workers in Ohio, more than the national average, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Miller did not elaborate in the affidavit on which unions had abandoned his campaign. But there are signs of shifting union support.

The Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Council endorsed Miller in 2024, according to an internet archive of his campaign website. This cycle, the Ohio State Building and Construction Trades Council — of which Cleveland is one of 14 member councils — endorsed Poindexter. Neither council returned a request for comment.

And Battleground Alliance PAC — a Democrat-aligned group backed, in part, by labor interests — has targeted households in Miller’s district with robocalls that highlight domestic abuse allegations, according to a report from Cleveland.com .“We felt it was important to tell people in the district who may not have heard about it, about what he was alleged to have done,” Andrew Grossman, the PAC’s campaign director, said in an interview.

A Miller spokesperson did not respond to a request to comment.

Moreno’s lawyer, Subodh Chandra, pushed back on Miller’s claim that the accusations have cost him union support, calling Miller’s words “hearsay” and noting that Miller failed to attach proof to his affidavit.

“Nor is the reason self-evident,” Chandra continued in a July 20 filing. “Even if it’s true, the union could have been walking away from Miller because he’s a lousy candidate to champion its issues.”

Miller has a mixed record on labor issues. In June, he broke with Speaker Mike Johnson and voted for legislation aimed at making it easier for workers to unionize, after Democrats used procedural maneuvers to force floor consideration of the measure.

He has also emphasized union support on the campaign trail, highlighting an early July Ohio Conference of Teamsters endorsement.

The Ohio Conference represents over 50,000 workers in the state, and President Pat Darrow said in a July statement that the bipartisan group of 10 House incumbents they endorsed have “proven they’re willing to take on Corporate America and advocate on behalf of our members in Congress.”

In a July 27 Facebook post, Miller celebrated an endorsement from the Local 18 International Union of Operating Engineers, stating he would “continue fighting for workers across Ohio’s 7th District.”

Spokespeople for both these local groups did not respond to requests for comment.

“I’ve been a Davis-Bacon Republican since Day One,” Miller said in a July 13 interview with a local Ohio radio talk show, referencing the 1931 landmark labor law that set a minimum wage for federal construction.

“And if you look at the state of Ohio, it just is what it is,” he continued. “We are not a right-to-work state, ladies and gentlemen. And, you know, this is one of these things where hopefully this shows you and the rest of the district that I am representing the district as it is — I am not going to Washington, D.C. to represent my own wants, feelings, wishes and needs.”

But Miller has also voted against efforts backed by major union groups. In December, he opposed a measure to nullify a Trump executive order that eliminated collective bargaining rights for federal employees.

The national AFL-CIO issued Miller a 14% score on his votes for “working people” through 2025, while the Ohio chapter of the largest federation of unions in the U.S. posted in support of Poindexter earlier this month, calling him the “best and easy choice to elect someone who will spend every day fighting for us.”

Poindexter has also raked up endorsements from dozens of unions including the American and Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Steelworkers and the American Federation of Government Employees as he paints himself as the more reliable friend of labor in the race to win over pro-union voters disillusioned with Miller.

“Strengthening collective bargaining rights, allowing more and more people to join the union of their choice if they so choose — those are the types of things that I really want to fight for,” Poindexter said in a recent Blue Light News interview. “And that’s my promise to the American people and people here of Ohio Seven.”

Recent polling now shows Miller trailing Poindexter in what was widely considered a reliably red seat that Trump won by 11 percentage points last cycle.

“Working families in OH-07 don’t want a multimillionaire nepo baby like Miller, who’s spent his career funding the outsourcing of American jobs and selling out workers for a profit,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Riya Vashi said in a statement, “they want a real working-class fighter like Brian Poindexter, who will put them first in Washington.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee directed Blue Light News to the Miller campaign when reached for comment.

Congress

Mike Rogers says Iran war needs to “end quickly” amid rising prices

Published

21 minutes ago

September 21, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Michigan Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers said Monday that the war with Iran “needs to end” to bring prices down, making him the second Republican to break with the White House on the issue that day.

“The war with Iran needs to end, and end quickly,” Rogers said in a video published Monday to social media.

“Michigan families can’t afford to wait,” he added. “Here’s what we can do now: place a temporary embargo on Diesel exports. American energy should provide relief to American families first.”

Earlier Monday, Rep. Ashley Hinson, a Republican Senate candidate in Iowa, expressed similar frustrations about the war’s impact on Iowans’ pocketbooks. Both Rogers and Hinson called for a suspension of the state and federal gas tax in their statements.

Ahead of the midterms, GOP candidates have expressed concern about the war in the Middle East, saying it has made it difficult for them to run on affordability. The war with Iran, which began in February, has led to marked increases in gas and diesel prices. On Monday, regular gas was just over $4.45 per gallon, according to AAA; diesel prices hit a record of $6.50 per gallon.

Rogers, a former representative, is facing Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in the race for a Senate seat in battleground Michigan.

Congress

Collins slams Trump plan to ‘politicize’ grants as defying Congress

Published

3 hours ago

September 21, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins warned Monday that President Donald Trump would be defying Congress if he moves forward with empowering top political appointees to decide who gets grant funding for health research.

“Any attempt to politicize grantmaking … is contrary to congressional intent,” the Maine Republican said in a statement.

Trump wants to issue an executive order to seat White House budget director Russ Vought and National Institutes of Health director Jay Bhattacharya on a board that would decide which grants the NIH should fund, according to two administration officials granted anonymity to describe a private meeting in the Oval Office last Friday.

Following reports of that meeting, Collins noted Monday that the stopgap funding patch Congress cleared this summer bars the White House from finalizing a separate proposed rule to put political appointees in charge of approving federal grants, or “any substantially similar” plan.

The Office of Management and Budget “should not be involved in agency decisions on the awards of grants,” Collins said, adding that “imposing a political review … undermines the long-standing principle that the government funds awards based on scientific need and merit, rather than political ideology.”

Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the House’s top Democratic appropriator, called the White House’s latest idea an attempt to “take control over federal funding, so they can use it to punish their perceived enemies and reward their friends.”

Washington Sen. Patty Murray, the Senate’s top Democratic appropriator, warned that the move would mean “a single political appointee could kill a cancer study or an Alzheimer’s trial with no scientific reason at all.”

A spokesperson for House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole did not return a request for comment regarding the Oklahoma Republican’s position.

Congress

Hinson calls for end to Iran war amid soaring diesel costs

Published

5 hours ago

September 21, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) on Monday expressed frustration over the ongoing war in Iran and its impact on Iowans’ pocketbooks, publicly distancing herself from President Donald Trump ahead of November’s rapidly approaching midterm elections.

“Iowans are being squeezed and shouldn’t have to foot the bill at the pump or the checkout line for the war in Iran,” Hinson said in a post to social media on Monday. “We need to use every option at our disposal to provide some relief from high prices.”

It’s the second time Hinson, the GOP candidate in Iowa’s critical Senate race and a loyal ally of Trump’s, has expressed concerns over the war. In June, Blue Light News obtained audio of Hinson warning the war could become a “political liability” if it continued much longer. Hinson did not mention Trump by name in her Monday statement.

Hinson called for suspending the gas tax, pausing diesel exports and creating a diesel relief program to help farmers and truckers “being crushed by the high costs,” among several other possible solutions.

“These actions to lower costs are needed ASAP, and the war needs to be brought to a successful and immediate end,” she added.

Gas and diesel prices have soared over the duration of the war with Iran, which began in February. Regular gas was just over $4.45 per gallon on Monday, according to AAA, and diesel prices hit a record high of $6.50 per gallon.

Trump and members of his administration have dismissed concerns over the costs.

“You have a little higher. It’s a very inexpensive price to pay for what we’ve done,” Trump said during a campaign stop in North Carolina last week. “Remember that. It’s a little more. Frankly, even if it was a lot more.”

Hinston on Monday said she will “work with anyone who is ready to tackle this challenge immediately.”