House hopeful Brian Poindexter wants to boot Max Miller—and help Ohio
Better Know a Democrat is an interview series to give voters a closer look at candidates in competitive races across the U.S.
In recent months, Democratic congressional candidate Brian Poindexter’s name shot across national headlines, spanning far outside of the Ohio district where he was seeking to unseat Republican Rep. Max Miller.
In the district, the longtime ironworker was originally a longshot in the polls. In terms of presidential elections, Donald Trump had won by 10 points where Poindexter is now running. So to go head-to-head with Miller, an ally of the administration, didn’t seem like light work.
That is, until details surfaced from his ongoing custody battle with his ex-wife for their young daughter. Miller is facing accusations of domestic abuse, both against his wife and the young girl. And as more details came to light, Republicans—and the president—began quietly urging Miller to step down as well.
Now, Cook Political Reports has shifted this “likely Republican” seat to “a toss up.” As a moral dilemma stands in the way of Miller’s reelection, the pro-union politician has been gaining ground. But will it be enough to unseat the incumbent, and troubled, congressman?
Daily Kos stole the candidate for a quick phone chat.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Daily Kos: What’s going on in the campaign today?
Brian Poindexter: We’re busy all day long, every day on the phones. You know, I was reading to the school children this morning at the Head Start in Brooklyn. [We’re] constantly doing events and talking to people all over the district.
Daily Kos: You know, I am very curious about that because when we look at who you are and where you’ve stood as a candidate—your candidacy really exploded because of what came out about Max Miller. I’m curious when you’re having discussions with voters, are you talking to people who, say, would normally vote Republican, and they’re like, “I draw a moral line at [Miller’s accusations],” or are people like, “I don’t care. I’m going to vote Republican regardless.”
Related | Republicans are stuck with Max Miller
Poindexter: There’s all sorts of voters in the district, and I try to reach every single one of them, try to talk to every single one of them, and you know, even before these allegations broke, we saw that we were getting support from Republicans because of what we’re fighting for. You know, fighting for workers first, and whether you’re Democrat, Independent, Republican, you know, costs are out of control for everybody, and that’s what this campaign was built on. And then the national media and the national attention grew once the allegations came out, but we were gaining momentum since day one, and that just continues to this day.
Daily Kos: Yeah, you’ve gotten national attention because of so much mudslinging going on, but you haven’t talked to people who have been like, I draw a moral line, and that’s why they’ve come to your side? Can you talk a little bit about that?
Poindexter: Certainly there are people in the district that have given me a look because of that. Make no mistake; these are very serious allegations, and people are shaken by them. Republican people who traditionally vote Republican are shaken by them, so they give me a look, and then when they look at our campaign and look at who I am, they see that I am somebody that they can get behind because I support a lot of things that they support—fair wages, making sure that we have good quality healthcare, making sure that we can retire with dignity—those are the three main staples of the campaign, and those aren’t partisan issues. Those are issues that we all can subscribe to because that’s what we all work for.
Daily Kos: Yeah, absolutely. That’s not just local to your district. That’s definitely a national issue. And, talking about issues that your campaign stands for, is there something that’s really affecting your district that you’re pushing for that speaks to a larger issue at hand?
Poindexter: Well, number one, top of mind when I’m knocking on doors is the cost of living. I’m sure that’s true probably all across the country, but it’s really hit Ohio hard. You know our farmers are having trouble because of the blanket tariffs and the tariffs put on potash, for example, that our farmers need to put their crops in the ground.
The fact that wages have stagnated while costs continue to grow. And you know at the same time we’re seeing records in the stock market, almost daily. At the same time, you see the food lines at the food banks growing. You know, people are really tired of a system that isn’t working for them. And everybody in this district is doing everything right, showing up to work, taking care of their families, but still living paycheck to paycheck. And now they’re not even making it to that next paycheck. And it doesn’t matter what party you’re from, or what your political ideology is. Everybody in this district is feeling it, and that’s where I hope to bring some relief.
Daily Kos: In terms of these people who would typically vote Republican, but are standing with you on more bipartisan issues: Are you saying your stances differ from Max Miller as you know in terms of policy, not in terms of you know who he is as a person?
Pointdexter: Well, I mean both, really. I’ll put my record up against Max Miller’s any day of the week, both in my personal life and his personal life. Also on his policy side of things as well, because, you know, he’s voted for the war in Iran six times, he’s voted for those blanket tariffs, he voted to cut a trillion dollars out of our healthcare system. These are things that people see tangible evidence of him not standing up for them and him catering to the billionaires and the corporations. You know, I’ll go even further. I wanna ban members of Congress from trading stocks, and I wanna get dark money out of politics. He has not taken any clear position on those, which means he’s benefiting from those things, and there’s differences up and down the spectrum between me and Max Miller.
Daily Kos: I have seen this report—and I don’t want to compare it directly. I know that allegations of domestic violence stand a little different to drug charges. There is this report I think from the ’90s of you allegedly swallowing crack cocaine. I know you’ve denied it, correct?
Poindexter: Yeah, that’s absolutely false. The fact is that I’ve never touched hard drugs in my life, never been charged with it. I was arrested, but the police officer was obviously mistaken in what he saw. But I never touched hard drugs. I’ve been a union ironworker for 20 years, where I’ve taken drug tests annually and randomly, and I’ve never failed one. In fact, I just took one this past week because I’m still in the drug-free program at work, and it was at random. And I guarantee that passes too when the results come in.
Daily Kos: If you are elected, if you do go on to Congress, then what would be the first thing that you tackle?
Poindexter: I’m going to sign right on to the PRO Act. I think giving working families the ability to join the union of their choice is paramount. As we’ve seen the decline in union membership over the years, so has the standard of living for working people. So that would be one of the first things I would do. But I got a feeling that the first day is going to be a long day because there’s a lot of workers’ issues that need to be resolved, and I’m going to be fighting for all of them on day one.
