Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, an Ohio Republican who voted in favor of President Donald Trump‘s impeachment, will likely be challenged in the 2022 GOP primary by Max Miller, a veteran of the Trump White House and the 2016 and 2020 campaigns.
Politico reported Monday that the 32-year-old Miller was exploring a run, purchasing a house in Rocky River, Ohio, which sits inside Gonzalez’s 16th congressional district.
Gonzalez and the nine other Republicans who voted to impeach the president are attracting his allies on the ballot, with MAGA candidates lining up to take on Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger already.
Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, an Ohio Republican who voted in favor of President Donald Trump’s impeachment for inciting the January 6 insurrection, is likely to be primaried by a former White House and Trump campaign official, Max Miller
The 32-year old Max Miller (left) worked for President Donald Trump’s (right) 2016 and 2020 campaigns and also in the White House’s Presidential Personnel Office and then as director of advance
Politico first reported that Max Miller (right) is exploring a bid for Congress to take on Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, who voted in favor of President Donald Trump’s impeachment. Here he accompanies then White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham (left) to the White House State Dinner with Australia
The 36-year-old Gonzalez is a former Ohio State and Indianapolis Colts football player and was first elected to the House in 2018 with the backing of business groups, including the Chamber of Commerce.
In 2020, he had a primary challenger, Christina Hagan, who boasted about being more closely aligned with Trump.
Hagan had the support of Rep. Jim Jordan, a vocal Trump House ally.
Gonzalez beat Hagan in the primary by about 13 points.
Miller worked in the Presidential Personnel Office, which was featured in a March 2018 investigation by The Washington Post.
The Post found inaccuracies on Miller’s LinkedIn page, which said he attended Cleveland State University from 2007 to 2011, worked on the presidential campaigns of Trump and Sen. Marco Rubio and worked as a Marine recruiter.
Cleveland State University said Miller graduated in 2013.
Once the newspaper started asking questions Miller removed the dates of his education and the claim that he was a Marine recruiter.
In an interview with the paper, he called them mistakes and blamed them on a relative he said made his LinkedIn page.
Miller was introduced to the Trump campign by his cousin, Eli Miller, who was a senior official in the Treasury Department.
Miller told The Post that it was his ‘work ethic’ that won the Trump campaign over, not his familial ties.
Politico reported that Miller was the grandson of real estate executive and philanthropist Sam Miller.
While a source told Politico Miller already had a six-figure sum pledged to him by potential donors, he also had family money to pull from.
The Washington Post also reported on Miller’s criminal record, including a 2007 charge for assault, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest after he reportedly punched a man in the back of the head and ran away from police.
He pleaded no contest for two misdemeanor charges. The case was later dismissed as part of a program for first offenders, the Post reported.
In 2009, Miller was charged with underage drinking, which was also dismissed as part of a first offenders’ program.
In 2010, he pleaded guilty do a disorderly conduct charge, stemming from a late night fight after Miller left a hookah bar. During the fight, police said he punched through a glass door, cut his wrist and then wandered off, the Post wrote.
‘Growing up, everyone makes mistakes,’ Miller told The Post. ‘Who I was in the past is not who I am now,’ he told the paper in 2018.
The Post investigation highlighted frat-like behavior at this White House office, which was responsible for vetting key posts across government. Memorably, The Post found that PPO staff was playing the drinking game ‘icing’ at work happy hours, where a Smirnoff Ice would be hidden and the person who found it would have to take a knee and chug the bottle.
Miller moved on from the PPO to become director of advance and left the White House for the 2020 campaign after the disastrous Tulsa, Oklahoma rally, which featured droves of empty seats.
He served as deputy campaign manager for presidential operations.
‘Every day, our campaign grows in strength, and Max’s wealth of experience and expertise is an important addition to our team’s world-class advance efforts,’ then Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said in the July 2020 announcement.