Red to Blue Does Not Mean This Race Is Won
My thoughts of how "we" the average person should proceed
First, I want to say Brian Poindexter is running a great campaign.
He is now on the DCCC’s Red to Blue list, which is a big deal. It means this race is going to get more attention, more money, and more resources. The DCCC and Poindexter’s campaign are going to run ads, knock doors, hold rallies, walk in parades, and do all the things campaigns are supposed to do. They will probably bring in big-name political people too.
Honestly, it would not surprise me if Barack Obama came out to campaign with Brian Poindexter at this point. If that happens, I will officially be jealous.
But none of that means this race is won.
This is still a district drawn to be strongly Republican. Democrats are still the minority here. The people paying attention to politics in the middle of August are the minority of psychopaths who love this stuff all year round. Most people are not like us.
Go outside and ask eight out of 10 people who their congressman is, what district they live in, or who they are voting for. Most of them will not be able to tell you. More than likely, they are only going to start seriously paying attention a couple weeks before the election.
That is what makes this race difficult. It is also where the rest of us have a job.
Brian Poindexter is not asking me to write this or say this. Honestly, I do not even know if he, his campaign, or everybody around him agrees with me.
But it is my perspective, and it is my newsletter, so I am going to write it anyway.
Pressure the People Still Supporting Max Miller
The first thing people should do is pressure the elected officials who donated to Max Miller or publicly supported him to renounce that support.
This will create more buzz than people realize.
If you live in Bay Village, for example, ask the elected officials there who supported Max Miller why they are still standing with him. Ask them publicly. Ask them directly. There are plenty of people on Capitol Hill who are distancing themselves from Max because they understand that being associated with him has become politically unpopular.
So why are local elected officials still supporting him?
Why is the mayor of Bay Village? Why is the council president? Why are other local people still willing to have their name connected to his?
Here is the list. Contact them. Pressure them. Make it public. Point it out.
Dwight Clark — Bay Village City Council President — $125 — June 12, 2026
Paul Koomar — Mayor of Bay Village — $500 — June 12, 2026 (through Friends of Paul Koomar)
Edward Orcutt — Mayor of Brook Park — $1,000 — June 12, 2026 (through Friends of Edward A. Orcutt)
Elected Republican Party officials:
Carla Washko — Cuyahoga County Republican Central Committee, Strongsville — $100 — June 21, 2026
Patricia Mroczka — Cuyahoga County Republican Central Committee, Strongsville — $150 — June 21, 2026
Edwin “Ed” Oliveros — Cuyahoga County Republican Central Committee, Strongsville — $100 — June 12, 2026
Former elected officials:
James Trakas — Former Independence City Council member — $250 — May 31, 2026
Linda Barath — Former North Royalton City Council member — $100 — June 12, 2026
Kimberly Veras — Former Brecksville City Council member — $1,000 total ($250 each on March 6, April 12, May 10, and June 12, 2026)
Allen Biehl — Former Montville Township trustee — $500 — June 12, 2026
Make them either stand with Max, say nothing, or renounce him.
Saying nothing or renouncing him is what you want. And if somebody does renounce him, it will bring a lot more attention to this race than people think.
If they do not, trust me, that should be on the scorecard next time they are up for election. It should be part of their political résumé. When Max Miller was facing serious allegations and the people around him were backing away, did they stand with him anyway?
That is a fair question for voters to ask.
Do Not Let This News Disappear
The second thing is simple: do not let this news disappear.
No matter how big this story feels right now, it is only August. We still have all of September and October. Kids are going back to school. Parents are dealing with homework, practices, activities, bus schedules, and everything else that comes with the school year. People are thinking about vacations, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and their own lives.
Their minds are not on the news.
And to be perfectly honest, even in a couple short months, it is easy to forget the whole laundry list of things that have come out about Max Miller.
Brian has already made a point of saying he is not running this race because of Max. He is running to put workers first. For good or bad, that appears to be the decision his campaign has made. He is not going to make the entire race about what is happening with Max.
Will special-interest groups run ads about it? Maybe.
Will the DCCC campaign on it? Maybe.
Will big-name people endorse Brian and talk about it on his behalf? Maybe.
But the people with the biggest reach and the most power are you.
If you do not let this go and let it be forgotten, there will be people who may not vote for Brian, but also will not vote for Max. And that is a win too.
I have said it before: Republicans are probably not going to vote for Brian en masse. But it is very possible that some Republicans will not vote for Max.
That is what you want.
Do not let people’s busy lives bury this story. Do not let it disappear beneath the next big headline. Do not let people come back to the news in late October, find it already buried, and then vote normally because they forgot what happened.
You do not have to scream at people. You do not need the angry, anti-Trump, anti-Republican rhetoric that is honestly cringeworthy half the time because it comes with so much rage and vitriol that it turns people off, even people who might otherwise agree with you.
Just say something softer.
“Hey, did you know about his history?”
“Have you heard about the allegations?”
You do not have to convince people. The allegations will do a lot of the work themselves.
And be clear about what they are: allegations. Max Miller denies them. But people are allowed to know about them, ask questions about them, and decide whether they want to vote for him.
Volunteer
Number three is obvious: volunteer.
People always ask, “What can I do?”
Ask the campaign. Put your name on the list. When they email you, show up.
Just showing up is a huge help and a huge motivator.
I cannot tell you how thankful I was when people showed up to help me knock doors. If 20 people show up and decide to knock 30 or 40 doors each, and they do that a couple times during the campaign, that is a massive amount of help.
Do the math. It adds up.
Make phone calls. Send text messages. Knock doors. Submit yourself and your time to the campaign. I promise you, if they have the help, they will keep you busy.
This Is Possible, But It Is Not Guaranteed
I am looking at this race and seeing a lot of people get excited about the possibility.
It is absolutely possible that this seat gets flipped.
But it is also very possible that it remains Republican and Max Miller wins his race. That is just the nature of politics. What is big news now can come and go. The next big story happens. Life gets busy. Other priorities take over.
By November 3, what we are talking about right now may not even be in anybody’s memory.
That is why this cannot just be Brian Poindexter’s campaign. It cannot just be the DCCC. It cannot just be ads, rallies, or big political names coming into the district.
It has to be the voters, the constituents, the Democrats, the Republicans, the independents, the unaffiliated people, and anybody who simply does not want Max Miller representing them in Congress.
Keep talking. Keep presenting facts. Keep asking questions.
And do not let this be forgotten.
The Max signs are popping up in the yards of the crappiest houses in Strongsville.