A new ad from Republican Rep. Max Miller distorts his Democratic opponent’s stances on taxes and health insurance.
The ad features voters from Ohio’s 7th District deriding Democrat Brian Poindexter as a “socialist” for supporting “higher taxes” and “government-run health care,” but neither of these are positions that Poindexter has actually taken.
The ad sources the health care claim to an August town hall event where Poindexter was asked how he would vote on a Medicare for All bill. Poindexter said he wants universal health coverage, but was clear he would not support any legislation without understanding how it affects Ohioans.
“If it’s just like Medicare for all starting tomorrow and it’s just like instituted and now we got to figure it out on a whim,” Poindexter said, “I don’t know if I could support that.”
Poindexter gave a similar statement to The Atlantic, which reported in July that he “wants to work toward Medicare for All … but he does not support adopting a single-payer health-care system immediately.”
The claim that Poindexter wants higher taxes is even more dubious. The ad partially sources it to a new tax levy that Poindexter endorsed in 2020 as a member of the Brook Park City Council. Nearly 60% of voters in Cuyahoga County voted to enact the levy, which cost most households less than $3 a month and enabled the County Public Library to continue offering services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ad also cites a similar circumstance in 2023 where Poindexter voted to allow the renewal of a tax levy to appear on a citywide ballot. More than 63% of voters approved levy’s renewal, which supported the Southwest General Health Center.
Ironically, the Southwest General Health Center is now at risk of losing $4.5 million because of Medicaid cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a law Miller supported.
Miller was decisively elected to Congress in 2022 and reelected in 2024. He is considered more vulnerable this year, partially because of domestic abuse allegations from his ex-wife.
A Bedrock Polling survey of 866 likely voters found Poindexter leading Miller by eight percentage points.
