Max Miller loans his campaign $1M despite growing GOP calls to drop out over abuse allegations

WASHINGTON, DC: Rep Max Miller from Ohio isn’t backing down, even with his own party urging him to step aside.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Miller’s putting $1 million of his own money into his re-election campaign, splitting it into two $500,000 loans. This move strengthens his campaign’s finances at a time when his future seems uncertain, with domestic abuse allegations from his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, hanging over him.

GOP pressure to step aside keeps building

“I am invested in this election in every way, and I will invest the resources into my campaign to win,” Miller said in a statement to the Journal about his upcoming battle against Brook Park city councilman Brian Poindexter.

Pressure on Miller keeps growing. Members of his own party have started to turn against him. Over the weekend, Sen Bernie Moreno, Emily Moreno’s father, demanded Miller’s resignation and bluntly suggested he should get help to break what he called “a clear pattern of abuse.”

By Thursday, Sen Jon Husted had joined in, urging Miller to quit his re-election campaign. Sen Tim Sheehy didn’t hold back, calling Miller a “degenerate sociopath.” Senators Katie Britt, Roger Marshall, and Shelley Moore Capito have also made it clear: they don’t want Miller running anymore.

Miller went on to dismiss concerns that the controversy surrounding him has made his race unwinnable, adding, “I am in this for the long haul,” and that he “know[s] there are some people that are concerned about my ability to win this race right now, but I don’t share that.”

A split between Trump's public and private posture

The pressure campaign has pulled back the curtain on a split between what President Trump says about Miller in public and what he tells him in private.

According to Axios, Trump called Miller on Monday and flat-out told him he doubted Miller’s chances at re-election. He admitted the path ahead looked rough. But when Trump spoke to reporters, he stuck to praise, calling Miller a “good person” and standing by him.

Meanwhile, Miller is pouring his own money into the campaign as more Republican senators line up, day after day, urging him to step aside.

The Ohio race has become a closely watched case study, a big test for the party, as it confronts what to do when a sitting member faces serious allegations while fighting for re-election.

The congressman denies the accusations by his ex-wife and has filed a defamation suit. On Tuesday, he announced that he plans to “file my own paperwork” to open a House Ethics investigation into himself.