Ed FitzGerald is trying to re-enter the political arena more than a decade after his last campaign ended in a high-profile election loss.
FitzGerald, a Democrat, announced last week that he’s challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Max Miller, of Bay Village, in next year’s election.
The race already is bringing FitzGerald together with another vintage player from Ohio’s political past: Cuyahoga County Republican Party Chair Jim Trakas.
Trakas, who served in the state legislature in the 2000s and led the Cuyahoga County Republican Party around the same time, filed a federal elections complaint against FitzGerald last Friday. Trakas claimed that FitzGerald violated federal campaign finance law by spending $56,000 from money in 2023 and 2024 that was left over in his state campaign account from his unsuccessful 2014 campaign for governor.
Generally speaking, candidates aren’t allowed to use state funds to support their run for federal office. Trakas also questioned the accuracy of spending reports filed by End the Electoral College, a federal PAC that FitzGerald founded in 2020.
FitzGerald, meanwhile, has slapped Miller with a complaint filed with a congressional ethics office, alleging a billboard Miller took out violates congressional rules that generally speaking, limit Congress members from using taxpayer money to pay for public communications.
These types of complaints are commonplace in campaigns, and at least offer an idea of the kind of mudslinging that may take place as it plays out.
Why he’s running
In an interview, FitzGerald said his concerns about the direction of the country under President Donald Trump spurred him to run. He downplayed his landslide 2014 election loss to then-Gov. John Kasich, saying it was Republicans’ longstanding institutional fundraising advantage in state elections that tanked his campaign. He said fundraising isn’t as pivotal for his current campaign, since it’s limited to a single area of the state that he’s previously represented as an elected official.
He also called the new complaint against him “frivolous” and accused Miller of being behind it. His campaign launch video focuses on spending cuts first implemented by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
“I already had a nice long career and I’m proud of what I did,” FitzGerald said. “I’m running because I think the country is going to hell in a hand basket. I’m planning on making that case very aggressively.”
FitzGerald is entering the race despite Ohio’s 7th Congressional District lines being in flux. FitzGerald said he plans to challenge Miller regardless of the district’s political tilt. Trump won it in its current configuration by more than 10 points in 2024. That hasn’t stopped national Democrats from placing the district on a target list ahead of next year’s election.
As it stands, the the district includes Cleveland’s suburbs, stretching south through Medina and Wooster. Republicans are looking at making changes to Democratic Rep. Emilia Sykes’ 13th District, which includes Akron, to make that district more winnable for Republicans. These types of changes could affect surrounding districts like the one Miller represents.
FitzGerald, who lives in Lakewood, said he’s looking at moving to the district soon.
“I’m running out of principle, so I don’t care where the district is drawn. And I will follow Max Miller and his district wherever it goes,” FitzGerald said.
Democrats could end up looking for someone else to back in challenging Miller, given FitzGerald’s past electoral history. A national Democratic source said they expect more candidates to enter the race.
FitzGerald said he’s been in touch with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. But he declined to say what they have told him about his candidacy.
FitzGerald’s campaign launch video does contain one connection with national Democrats though: he uses the word “bullshit” to describe Miller’s votes for the spending cuts, a rhetorical move in line with a broader party trend of Democratic officials being swearier.
In a statement, Katie Smith, a spokesperson for the DCCC, said: “Max Miller represents everything wrong with Washington. Instead of working for Ohioans, he does the bidding of his party bosses in DC and special interest donors to cut Medicaid and end tax credits that will raise families’ health care premiums and electricity bills, all while giving tax cuts to billionaires.”
Signal has reached out to a Miller spokesperson for comment.
