Ohio Democrat Brian Poindexter has defeated Republican Rep. Max Miller, NBC News projects, months after the congressman’s ex-wife accused him of domestic abuse — allegations he denied but became the centerpiece of the campaign.

Poindexter, an ironworker and city councilmember in the working-class Cleveland suburb of Brook Park, flipped a district that President Donald Trump would have won by 11 points in 2024. Poindexter and his allies amplified the abuse allegations as Democrats poured millions into a race they weren’t expecting to compete in just months before.

Miller, 37, spent Trump’s first term as a White House aide and campaign hand. He originally sought to challenge then-Rep. Anthony Gonzalez in a 2022 GOP primary with Trump’s blessing, after Gonzalez backed Trump’s impeachment one year prior. Gonzalez ended up retiring instead of running for re-election, and Miller won a different seat after redistricting jumbled the state’s congressional map.

During that campaign, former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham accused Miller of physical abuse while they were dating, allegations Miller denied.

In Congress, Miller remained a steadfast ally of Trump, but he did break from the president on some issues like his tariffs, and he was also steadfast in his support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. Miller made headlines for taking on progressive Democrats over their support for Palestinians amid Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, and he backed the expulsion of former Republican Rep. George Santos from Congress, accusing Santos of stealing money from him and his mother.

Miller had been expected to win re-election easily until the circumstances surrounding his divorce became public. His ex-wife, Emily Moreno, has accused him of holding a gun to her head, throwing hot water on her, and throwing her against a wall, allegations that have been aired both in courtrooms as well as in public. Miller has vehemently denied those claims.

Miller released a series of documents and audio recordings of conversations between him and Moreno. The congressman also defended himself in a lengthy social media livestream.

“Ask yourself: If I had assaulted her, would she have offered to cook me dinner six days later?” he said in the social media video released this summer. “Would she have invited me to spend an afternoon at the playground with her and our daughter? Would she have written that we were in a friendlier place?”

Emily Moreno’s spokesperson Stefan Mychajliw called the video “unhinged and humiliating,” calling Miller’s denial of the allegations a lie and saying that Moreno is “confident that justice will prevail in court.”

Miller’s ex-wife is the daughter of Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, who spoke out over the summer, saying that he had hoped to not publicly weigh in “out of concern for the safety for my family,” but he felt that “Miller’s increasingly erratic and dangerous behavior has made that impossible.” The senator went on to say that “If there are any basic standards of character required to hold elected office, Max Miller fails them,” and that Miller “should not serve in the House of Representatives.”

Despite calls from the senator and some other Republicans to resign before the deadline passed to replace him on the ballot, Miller was undeterred.

Meanwhile, Poindexter suddenly found himself at the center of one of the most competitive House races in the nation.

The Democrat brought together backers including progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who endorsed Poindexter ahead of his primary victory over longtime Ohio Democrat Ed FitzGerald. After the primary, Poindexter won the backing of other Democrats like Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, as the party sought to unite behind his campaign.

After voting Republican in his 20s, Poindexter began identifying more with Democrats, supporting President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election and finding inspiration in Sanders’ 2016 presidential bid.

On top of the attacks on Miller, Poindexter has leaned into a populist message calling on his union background and promising to advocate for workers in Congress. While he has said he disagrees with Trump’s blanket tariffs, Poindexter backed “targeted tariffs to protect jobs” and argued for ways to rebuild America’s manufacturing sector. He also told the Akron Beacon Journal he supports “working towards universal health care over time” and working to protect union rights.

As Poindexter and his allies hammered Miller, Republicans unspooled their own lines of attack against the Democrat, highlighting his past arrests.

As a young adult, Poindexter faced a handful of criminal charges. He told NBC News this summer that his 1999 felonious assault charge was reduced to misdemeanor, and he was charged in 2002 and 2003 with misdemeanor disorderly conduct related to fights at Cleveland Browns games. He added during his NBC News interview that he turned over a new leaf after he became a father at 22.

“I was young and dumb, but I turned my life around. That was 25 years ago. But Max Miller, even after at least three women have accused Miller of violence and brutality, all Miller does is attack and lie,” Poindexter said in one TV ad.