Republican Candidate Max Miller has a nearly $1 million financial lead over his nearest competitor in the race for Ohio’s 13th Congressional District, as of the December 31, 2021 filing deadline.
According to FEC records, Miller has raised $1,828,312.50 and has $968,976.38 cash on hand in the bank. No other candidate in either the Republican field or the Democrat field has more than $15,000 on hand.
OH-13 is currently an open seat because incumbent U.S. Representative Tim Ryan (D-OH-13) is running in the Democrat primary for U.S. Senate. Ryan was briefly a candidate in the 2020 Democrat presidential primary before withdrawing.
Miller originally launched his campaign in 2021, running for the U.S. House in OH-16. He was challenging outgoing Republican U.S. Representative Anthony Gonzalez in a primary because Gonzalez had voted in favor of Trump’s second impeachment. President Trump and the Club for Growth endorsed his candidacy.
The 16th district wound up being eliminated after the census and redistricting process, as Ohio lost a congressional seat. Miller then switched over to run in Ohio’s 13th Congressional District.
In his February 26, 2021 endorsement posted on Miller’s website, President Trump said, “Max Miller is a wonderful person who did a great job at the White House and will be a fantastic congressman. He is a Marine Veteran, a son of Ohio, and a true PATRIOT. Max Miller has my Complete and Total Endorsement!”
Miller is a former Trump administration official, having served in various positions, including associate director of the Presidential Personnel Office and special assistant to the president. He’s also served in the Marine Reserves.
Miller’s website talks about the issues that are important to his campaign. “Max wants to advance the America First agenda, defend the 2nd Amendment and the Bill of Rights, combat big tech censorship, and safeguard our elections. He will fight to stop illegal immigration, restart construction of the southern border wall, and strongly oppose amnesty. Max also wants to ban Critical Race Theory across the United States and stop all forms of anti-American indoctrination of our school children.”
A Jewish-American, Miller says that he “will fight the anti-Semites like Ilhan Omar in Congress and demand that their enablers like Nancy Pelosi hold them accountable.”
While Ohio lost a congressional seat and the lines were changed, the redistricting process did not significantly change the partisan makeup of OH-13. Nate Silver’s fivethirtyeight gives the new 13th district a partisan rating of R+2. Prior to redistricting, it had an even rating.
The Ohio Supreme Court had already weighed in on the redistricting process in January of this year, tossing out the map that was passed by the Ohio legislature in November of 2021. On March 2, 2022, the Ohio Redistricting Commission, in a party-line vote, approved a new set of maps subject to Ohio Supreme Court scrutiny. The partisan makeup of the maps statewide is similar to the maps that the Ohio Supreme Court threw out, so it is possible that the court may choose to invalidate the maps again.
The OH-13 primary is currently scheduled to take place on May 3, 2022. The candidate filing deadline was Friday, March 4, 2022.
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]. Follow Aaron on GETTR.
Photo “Max Miller” by Nokia621. CC BY-SA 4.0. Background Photo “U.S. Capitol” by Raul654. CC BY-SA 3.0.
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