The 1992 primary was so close it forced a recount and a lawsuit. When Ohio Secretary of State Bob Taft dismissed Miller's charges of voting irregularities in Highland, Hocking, and Warren Counties, Miller filed suit in the Ohio Supreme Court. Only in August did Miller drop his court challenge and then only because his campaign was out of money. In the final count, McEwen won 33,219 votes to Miller's 32,922, a plurality of only 297 votes. Ominously for November, each had won the counties they had formerly represented, McEwen making little headway in the new eastern counties in the district. After the final result, Miller refused to endorse McEwen and carried an unsuccessful legal challenge to the redistricting to the United States Supreme Court, insisting district lines should be drawn on a politically neutral basis. After the primary, McEwen introduced H. R. 5727 in the House to name the locks on the Ohio near Gallipolis after Miller, but the bill did not pass. McEwen subsequently lost the general election that year to Ted Strickland.