Republicans Press Rep. Max Miller to Quit Race and Resign
Four GOP senators have called on the Ohio congressman to step aside over abuse allegations from his ex-wife, as progressives celebrate Abdul El-Sayed's Michigan Senate primary win.
A growing number of Republicans are calling on Rep. Max Miller of Ohio to abandon his re-election campaign and resign from Congress following abuse allegations made by his ex-wife, Emily Moreno.
Miller has denied the allegations, which drew national attention after he addressed them on a Sunday livestream. That prompted Moreno's father, Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, to denounce him publicly. In a weekend statement, the senator said Miller "is a danger to my daughter, and I hold my breath every minute he has custody of my granddaughter."
Miller has repeatedly vowed to continue running in Ohio's 7th District. A spokesperson for the Ohio secretary of state's office told NBC News that the deadline to replace a candidate would be Monday, and that a replacement would be chosen by county party chairs in the district.
Republican senators who have called on Miller to step aside include Tim Sheehy of Montana, Katie Britt of Alabama, Roger Marshall of Kansas and Jon Husted of Ohio.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Politico the allegations were "serious" but said he would let the House Ethics Committee investigation run its course. "There's all sorts of domestic events going on with 435 members of Congress all the time; it's not my business to get engaged in it," Johnson said.
Weighing the left's Michigan win
In the same edition of NBC News' From the Politics Desk newsletter, Jonathan Allen wrote that progressives are overstating the significance of Abdul El-Sayed's victory in Michigan's Democratic Senate primary.
Sen. Bernie Sanders called it "the most extraordinary victory that I can think of in modern American politics." Allen argued that the result was a single open-seat primary and that El-Sayed has not yet won a Senate seat. If he does, the number of backers for Medicare for All would rise to 19 — fewer than a third of the votes needed to overcome a filibuster. Sanders has added a net of three co-sponsors in six years.
Allen also noted that Rep. Wesley Bell easily turned back a primary challenge from former Rep. Cori Bush, who, like El-Sayed, centered her opposition to Israel in her campaign. El-Sayed faces former Rep. Mike Rogers in November.
This article was produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI), in accordance with our editorial policy.
