Rep. Max Miller, the embattled Ohio Republican who faces accusations of domestic violence from his ex-wife, appears almost certain to remain on the ballot in November after a key deadline in the process to replace him passed Saturday.
Miller, who denies any wrongdoing, has resisted growing calls to drop his bid for a third term and resign from Congress.
Under Ohio law, the deadline to fill a vacancy for the November general election is Monday at 4 p.m. But there are earlier steps in the process that seemingly would have necessitated Miller withdrawing already.
Most notably, the leaders of the local Republican parties in all four counties that are part of the district must meet to choose the replacement nominee. The statute requires that the chairperson from the most populous county provide at least two days’ notice to participants to convene the meeting.
That means Miller would have had to withdraw his candidacy by Saturday to leave enough time for the selection process before Monday’s deadline. He did not.
A spokesperson for Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R), who oversees elections in the state, said the office could not confirm that interpretation of the law because of the potential for litigation.
If Miller were to end his campaign after Monday, his name could still be removed from the ballot until 70 days before the November election — that deadline is Aug. 25 — but there would be no Republican nominee for the office.
Some Republican officials, fearful of putting a conservative-leaning seat at risk as the GOP fights to hold its narrow House majority, have maneuvered to pressure Miller to drop out of the race. Withdrawing after he won the Republican nomination for Ohio’s 7th Congressional District would have allowed local GOP officials to select a replacement.
Following their divorce last year, Miller’s ex-wife, Emily Moreno, accused him in court filings of throwing hot water on her from a pan of eggs he had just cooked, once holding a gun to her head and hurting their daughter, who suffered a fractured collarbone in February. Miller claims his ex-wife fabricated those allegations because she is mentally ill, which she denies.
Public scrutiny of the abuse accusations increased in recent weeks after Moreno filed for a new restraining order, leading Miller to post a lengthy video statement online in which he blamed a custody battle for souring their relationship and vowed to press ahead with his reelection.
Last Sunday, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), Emily Moreno’s father, broke months of silence about the situation, calling Miller “a danger” who is unfit to serve in Congress and urging him to step aside.
That set off a scramble over Miller’s fate. Some Senate colleagues, including Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), and conservative organizations in Ohio joined Moreno to push Miller to end his campaign and resign from Congress.
But prominent Republicans, including President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), have stood by Miller. Most of his GOP colleagues in the House refuse to discuss the allegations against him.
Privately, Republican campaign officials express little concern about losing Miller’s seat because of the conservative tilt of this area stretching south from the Cleveland suburbs.
The Washington Post interviewed dozens of voters in the district this week and found that the scandal was barely registering.
Many were unfamiliar with the accusations against Miller, and even those Republicans who had heard were largely wary of wading into what they considered a family matter and reluctant to abandon the congressman. Only a handful of conservative voters told The Post that they were even open to considering his Democratic opponent, Brian Poindexter.