# Brian Poindexter > [!note] Stub > This is a short entry that hasn't been fully written yet. **Brian Poindexter** is an ironworker and union member who won Ohio's 7th congressional district as a Democrat in the November 3, 2026 midterms, defeating two-term Republican Rep. [[Max Miller]]. Decision Desk HQ projected the race on election night. Vote totals are unofficial until Ohio certifies. Poindexter won an eight-way Democratic primary on May 5, 2026 with 37 percent of the vote. The northeast Ohio seat was rated a toss-up by Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball and Decision Desk HQ alike, and ABC News had counted it among the fourteen races most likely to decide control of the chamber. The Congressional Leadership Fund, the House Republican leadership's outside spending vehicle, spent against him across several independent-expenditure campaigns in October 2026. His win was part of a Democratic sweep in Ohio that also sent [[Sherrod Brown]] back to the Senate and elected [[Amy Acton]] the state's first woman governor. Richardson's letter of November 4 singled out his trade as emblematic of the night, noting that voters in Ohio had sent a union ironworker to the House alongside a senator known for defending unions. ## Why it's on the map Ohio's 7th was one of a handful of genuinely uncertain House races, and it fell to a candidate with no prior office and a building-trades background — a combination that featured in much of the post-election argument about which voters moved and why. The seat's loss also ended the House career of [[Max Miller]], a former Trump White House aide. ## Connections - [[OH-07-2026]] — the race - [[Max Miller]] — the defeated incumbent - [[2026 Midterm Elections]] · [[2026 House Races Hub]] - [[2026 Midterms Live - Election Results War Room]] ## Sources - [Ballotpedia: Ohio's 7th Congressional District election, 2026](https://ballotpedia.org/Ohio's_7th_Congressional_District_election,_2026) - [NewsNation: 2026 midterm election live results (Decision Desk HQ)](https://www.newsnationnow.com/politics/2026-midterm-elections/midterm-election-day-2026-live-results/) - [ABC News: House races that could determine control of Congress](https://abcnews.com/Politics/house-races-determine-party-control-congress/story?id=137301298)