GOP Rep. Max Miller is fretting that the loss of support from a key constituency could damage his reelection prospects — even as his party base continues to stand with him in spite of serious allegations of domestic abuse centered on his ex-wife and young child.

Miller is claiming that multiple unions are turning their backs on him as he seeks a third term in office — a result, he argues, of allegations raised in his ongoing public marital dispute with his ex-wife Emily Moreno, the daughter of Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno.

"A lobbyist for a trade union informed me by text message that the union was withdrawing its support for my campaign because of these allegations," Miller wrote in a July 8 affidavit — part of the defamation lawsuit he has brought against his ex-wife following a May 7 Daily Mail report on allegations that Miller, among other things, attacked Moreno with scalding hot water. Miller denies the claims.

"Representatives of two other organizations that had supported my campaign likewise informed me or my campaign that their support was ending because of these allegations," he continued. "One labor union's international organization notified me in writing that it will endorse my opponent in the November 2026 general election, citing my personal circumstances."

"Based on those organizations' typical levels of support, I estimate the withdrawn organizational support at approximately $30,000, in addition to lost personal contributions from individual donors who have told me or my campaign that they will not contribute because of these allegations," Miller said, going on to conclude that in total his re-election campaign would cost about $2.5 million to $3 million — up from $1.4 million prior to the need to defend himself from the claims.

The anxiety comes as Miller is running in a now-competitive district against Democrat Brian Poindexter, a city councilman and member of the local ironworkers union. Poindexter has been leaning on his labor bona fides and focusing on workers rights, as organized labor has emerged as a critical voting bloc across the Cleveland-area district.

Unions make up 11.6% of wage and salary workers in Ohio, more than the national average, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Miller did not elaborate in the affidavit on which unions had abandoned his campaign. But there are signs of shifting union support.

The Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Council endorsed Miller in 2024, according to an internet archive of his campaign website. This cycle, the Ohio State Building and Construction Trades Council — of which Cleveland is one of 14 member councils — endorsed Poindexter. Neither council returned a request for comment.

And Battleground Alliance PAC — a Democrat-aligned group backed, in part, by labor interests — has targeted households in Miller's district with robocalls that highlight domestic abuse allegations, according to a report from Cleveland.com."We felt it was important to tell people in the district who may not have heard about it, about what he was alleged to have done," Andrew Grossman, the PAC's campaign director, said in an interview.

A Miller spokesperson did not respond to a request to comment.

Moreno's lawyer, Subodh Chandra, pushed back on Miller's claim that the accusations have cost him union support, calling Miller's words "hearsay" and noting that Miller failed to attach proof to his affidavit.

"Nor is the reason self-evident," Chandra continued in a July 20 filing. "Even if it's true, the union could have been walking away from Miller because he's a lousy candidate to champion its issues."

Miller has a mixed record on labor issues. In June, he broke with Speaker Mike Johnson and voted for legislation aimed at making it easier for workers to unionize, after Democrats used procedural maneuvers to force floor consideration of the measure.

He has also emphasized union support on the campaign trail, highlighting an early July Ohio Conference of Teamsters endorsement.

The Ohio Conference represents over 50,000 workers in the state, and President Pat Darrow said in a July statement that the bipartisan group of 10 House incumbents they endorsed have "proven they're willing to take on Corporate America and advocate on behalf of our members in Congress."

In a July 27 Facebook post, Miller celebrated an endorsement from the Local 18 International Union of Operating Engineers, stating he would "continue fighting for workers across Ohio's 7th District."

Spokespeople for both these local groups did not respond to requests for comment.

"I've been a Davis-Bacon Republican since Day One," Miller said in a July 13 interview with a local Ohio radio talk show, referencing the 1931 landmark labor law that set a minimum wage for federal construction.

"And if you look at the state of Ohio, it just is what it is," he continued. "We are not a right-to-work state, ladies and gentlemen. And, you know, this is one of these things where hopefully this shows you and the rest of the district that I am representing the district as it is — I am not going to Washington, D.C. to represent my own wants, feelings, wishes and needs."

But Miller has also voted against efforts backed by major union groups. In December, he opposed a measure to nullify a Trump executive order that eliminated collective bargaining rights for federal employees.

The national AFL-CIO issued Miller a 14% score on his votes for "working people" through 2025, while the Ohio chapter of the largest federation of unions in the U.S. posted in support of Poindexter earlier this month, calling him the "best and easy choice to elect someone who will spend every day fighting for us."

Poindexter has also raked up endorsements from dozens of unions including the American and Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Steelworkers and the American Federation of Government Employees as he paints himself as the more reliable friend of labor in the race to win over pro-union voters disillusioned with Miller.

"Strengthening collective bargaining rights, allowing more and more people to join the union of their choice if they so choose — those are the types of things that I really want to fight for," Poindexter said in a recent POLITICO interview. "And that's my promise to the American people and people here of Ohio Seven."

Recent polling now shows Miller trailing Poindexter in what was widely considered a reliably red seat that Trump won by 11 percentage points last cycle.

"Working families in OH-07 don't want a multimillionaire nepo baby like Miller, who's spent his career funding the outsourcing of American jobs and selling out workers for a profit," Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Riya Vashi said in a statement, "they want a real working-class fighter like Brian Poindexter, who will put them first in Washington."

The National Republican Congressional Committee directed POLITICO to the Miller campaign when reached for comment.