{UAH} THE WAR HAS BEGUN ->Part one

Trump endorsement boosts GOP primary rival to pro-impeachment incumbent Anthony Gonzalez

by David M. Drucker, Senior Political Correspondent  

 

May 22, 2021 06:30 AM

Republican Max Miller is poised to ride an endorsement from Donald Trump to victory over Rep. Anthony Gonzalez in a GOP primary in Ohio, a contest unfolding as a clear test of the former president’s influence with grassroots conservatives.

Miller, a 32-year-old former Trump White House aide, was endorsed by the former president soon after announcing for the Cleveland-area 16th Congressional District. Trump was intent on getting revenge on Gonzalez, a second-term congressman among the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach him in the waning days of his administration for allegedly inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Trump’s swift endorsement of Miller has, so far, kept other Republicans who might want to challenge Gonzalez, 36, out of the race. Party insiders are skeptical that will change, setting up a one-on-one contest between pro-Trump and anti-Trump candidates on track to reveal how much punch the former president has in GOP primaries post-White House.

“Gonzalez is on life support,” a high-ranking Ohio Republican said. The Gonzalez campaign declined to comment.

Trump wants Republicans who voted to impeach him Jan. 13 to be ousted in primaries in 2022. But in some of the districts, formidable pro-Trump candidates have yet to emerge. In others, such as the Wyoming at-large held by Rep. Liz Cheney, the primary field is crowded with contenders, threatening to dilute the pro-Trump vote and grease the incumbent’s renomination. None of these are issues in Ohio’s 16th, where Trump last November won with 56.5%.

Miller comes from a wealthy Ohio family with deep roots in the state. He has the personal wealth to self-finance his campaign and raised approximately $500,000 in the four weeks after launching his bid. Miller also is showing that his appeal could extend beyond the “MAGA” wing of the party. He was endorsed by the Club for Growth, a group that tends to prefer traditional conservatives over Trump-style populists.

Miller, who is Jewish, is a member of the board of trustees of the United States Memorial Holocaust Museum. He made national news calling for fellow trustee Ben Rhodes, a White House aide to former President Barack Obama, to resign for comments he made regarding the military conflict between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas. But overall, Miller’s campaign is focusing the candidate’s time on the blocking and tackling of connecting with voters in the district.

Confident of defeating Gonzalez, Miller’s advisers are keeping an eye on the decennial redistricting process. They do not expect the 16th to be radically altered, at least not in a way that would affect Miller’s prospects in the primary. The new district lines could create a more competitive scenario against the eventual Democratic nominee in the general election, however, so his campaign is preparing.

Meanwhile, the Gonzalez-Miller primary has turned into a litmus test for the crowd of Republicans running for Ohio’s open Senate seat. Endorsements are rolling for the challenger as a means to prove to the state’s Trump-friendly, GOP electorate that they are loyal to the former president. “This has become proving ground for the Senate race,” a Miller supporter said. Gonzalez does not appear rattled.

On Wednesday, he posed for a picture with two of Trump’s biggest so-called Republican enemies, Cheney and Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (which Duncan posted on Twitter, then later deleted.) Gonzalez was one of 35 House Republicans who voted to create an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 ransacking of the Capitol by grassroots Trump supporters. While some of Trump’s GOP critics in Congress have gone to ground, Gonzalez remains outspoken.

To beat Miller, however, he is going to have to raise money. Republican strategists who monitor House races say his fundraising history suggests he is not up to the task. In the first quarter of this year, Gonzalez collected roughly $617,000. The haul was decent, but the congressman ended March with just over $1 million in cash on hand, not much more than double the war chest Miller amassed in four weeks.

What could save Gonzalez is his impressive profile. His father fled Cuba after dictator Fidel Castro came to power. Raised in Ohio, Gonzalez was a star college football player at The Ohio State University and played in the National Football League. Gonzalez then went on to earn an MBA at Stanford. The high-ranking Ohio Republican cautioned against predicting his fate, noting Miller is an untested candidate and that the primary is more than a year away.

“Anybody writing his obit should wait and see what tomorrow will bring,” this GOP insider said. “His fundraising is OK, and he’s personally well-liked — OSU football star to boot.”

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