This Democrat Really Could Flip a Trump District

An ironworker refusing corporate PAC donations could take out a sitting member of Congress who has taken at least $334,350 from corporate PACs.

Brian Poindexter, a proud union ironworker, is running to flip Ohio’s 7^th District. Under a different set of circumstances, this race might’ve been a foregone conclusion: Trump won the district by 11 points in 2024. But Brian is now pulling just ahead of his Republican opponent.

Brian stands a real chance of flipping this seat in November –delivering a major pickup for Democrats and a victory against Big Money in Washington.

“When times get tough, working people are always asked to do more with less,” Brian says. He’s running to represent workers, not corporations. He’s signed on to End Citizen United’s Unrig Washington program and is refusing corporate PAC money. That’s a winning message. According to a recent poll by End Citizens United, 96% of Ohio voters say that corruption in government is a serious problem.

This race has gotten a lot of media attention over the last week, as the Republican candidate, Rep. Max Miller, a former Trump Administration aide, is doubling down on his candidacy after his ex-wife has made credible allegations that he abused her and their young daughter. “If there are any basic standards of character required to hold elected office, Max Miller fails them,” Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno, Miller’s former father-in-law, wrote on X.

End Citizens United has always considered Republican Rep. Max Miller unfit to represent Ohio’s 7^th District: He’s received roughly $334,350 in corporate PAC donations from Big Pharma, Big Tech, Wall Street, private prison companies, and other moneyed interests. There couldn’t be a starker contrast between these two candidates and whose interests they represent.

ECU: Why are you running for Congress?

Brian: I’m running to win, but I also want to inspire other people who are regular working people to stand up and say, “Hey, if he can run, I can too.”

I’ve worked various jobs throughout my life. I became a union iron worker at 27 years old. Every step of the way, people have said we need somebody like us, who knows what we’re going through, in Washington. And I looked around and nobody else was standing up and heeding the call, so I wanted to be somebody who said, “Hey, I’m going to stand up. I’m going to run and try to make things better for people who work for a living.”

ECU: Why are campaign finance issues important to you?

Brian: The Citizens United decision was one of the most harmful decisions in history. That ruling basically says that money is speech. So, in other words, a lack of money is silence. I believe that’s why we’re in the mess we’re in. Because people like me, workers, have been silenced because of our lack of resources. That’s by design, and that’s why wages haven’t gone up, and that’s why prices continue to rise.

That decision silenced the majority of people in this country who know what the problems are but don’t have the voice to fix them. In this campaign, I’ve been learning that the hard way. We’re scrounging for every dollar that comes to our campaign. We’ve done pretty well, because of the work we’re putting in. But you know, the Big Money candidates, the ones connected to wealthy interests, all they have to do is pick up the phone, and they’re funded completely.

I’d like to see a system that’s fairer. A system where super PACs have to disclose their donors, and they have limits on the contribution they can receive and limits on what they can spend in these races. I think that it’s a travesty that that the wealthiest among us can silence everybody else simply because they have more money.

ECU: What are you hearing from people in your district about how corruption affects them?

Brian: Right now, the politics of today are affecting everybody. Whether you’re white collar, blue collar, whether you work in a factory or on a farm, everybody is feeling the pinch of an economy that’s way out of balance.

The number one thing I hear at the doors is that people are feeling the pressure in their wallets, and when that happens, they start looking for reasons why they don’t have enough to make ends meet. So, they look at things like taxes. They look at their neighbor down the street, and they’re looking for somebody to blame for the fact that they’re not making ends meet. Really, it can be attributed to Washington. We’re seeing corporate tax giveaways, record high gas prices, record high grocery prices, and it’s all because of policies that have been favoring the wealthy at the expense of the working person.

ECU: What’s it like trying to flip a Republican House seat in a district Trump won?

Brian: Most people know that this isn’t the way things are supposed to be. Politics wasn’t always this toxic. I remember when Democrats and Republicans were cordial. They stood up for the rule of law. They worked together on certain things. We don’t see any of that right now. This chaos has driven neighbors to hate neighbors, friend to hate friend, family members to disown family members.

You know, my whole life I’ve had to deal with different perspectives. My dad voted for Trump. I don’t understand it, but I still love him. On a construction site, some people might be Democrats, or they might be MAGA, and we’ve still got to put our differences aside to get the job done. So, in my world and in my circles, politics isn’t our defining characteristic. I don’t agree with my dad about politics, but he’s probably one of the most helpful people in our community. He’s always fixing people’s cars.

On the campaign trail, I talk to people like they’re human beings, because that’s what they are. When I was coming up, if somebody’s car was broken down on the side of the street, you pulled over and helped them out. Now people will either fly by and not help, or they’ll look at the bumper sticker and see if you’re worth helping. That’s terrible for our society. We need to get back to community. I want to bring that perspective to Washington.

ECU: What policies would you advocate for when as a member of Congress?

Brian: Right off the bat, first thing we should do is raise the minimum wage. It’s supposed to be a minimum standard of living, and right now too many people are comfortable with the minimum standard being below poverty.

Second, I think we can work on the tax code. Right now, corporations and the highest earners are enjoying great tax rates, and I think they should earn their way into those tax rates. The tax rate at the highest levels should be a much higher rate, and then if [companies] are offering all their employees good quality, affordable healthcare, they earn themselves a little lower rate. And if they offer a pension, they get another rate. These aren’t partisan issues. Everybody who works for a living is working for those exact things.

We working people have been underrepresented in Washington for a very long time, and that’s why you get Congress arguing for allowing congressional stock trading. That’s why you get people arguing for tax cuts for huge corporations and pushing for automation and other things that push workers out of the workforce. That’s why nobody is arguing on behalf of that worker who is pushed out of the workforce.

I’ll be looking at Congress through the lens of a working person. I’m a worker. All my friends are workers. The people in my community are workers. That’s what I know. And that’s who I’m fighting for. I want to make sure that they’re represented.

ECU: With everything that’s going on, with everything you’re doing, how are you coping?

Brian: I’m coping the same way a lot of families are. It doesn’t matter how bad the world is getting around you, we still have to continue to work, to put one foot in front of the other. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t see something in the news or get a call from somebody that just absolutely breaks my heart. But, you know, the bills keep rolling in. So, I still got to continue to push forward. I’ve been doing that my whole life.

One of the hardest things about this campaign is the long hours. Getting up early, staying up late, the emotional roller coaster any given day brings. But I’m trained for this because I was a young father who was working full-time, drove my kids around to their practices, had to come back, cook dinner. By the time I got them put to bed, it was a 15- or16-hour, day.

That’s what set us up for the success we’ve had so far. We have a strong coalition of folks to help us. And I’m not afraid to put in the work. I’m used to the hours. And that’s how we cope. We just continue to keep our heads down and grind and just keep working.

You can learn more about Brian Poindexter and his campaign here.