Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) saw his campaign for a third term in Congress come to an end Tuesday night, losing the Republican primary to Ryan Elijah, a former Orlando television news personality.
Elijah, best known locally for his work hosting “Good Day Orlando” and “Orlando Matters” on Fox affiliate WOFL, was ahead of Mills 47.1% to 34.2% with nearly all ballots tallied.
Mills, 46, entered the final stretch politically weakened, struggling to bring in campaign cash while facing a House Ethics Committee probe into what investigators described as “serious and complex” allegations. The accusations included claims involving domestic assault, stolen valor and financial misconduct.
In the closing weeks of the Florida congressional primary, Elijah built momentum with a wave of endorsements, including backing from Mills’ fellow Republican House members Anna Paulina Luna and Mike Haridopolos.
Elijah, 54, who previously ran unsuccessfully for Congress in Indiana in 2010, argued that the late support from GOP officials was a sign Mills had “lost trust and confidence” among his own ranks.
“This isn’t personal for me. I’m in it so we don’t lose this seat,” Elijah said during a debate earlier this month.
Elijah now advances to the general election, where he will take on Democrat Bale Dalton, a Navy veteran and former senior NASA official, in the race to represent Florida’s 7th Congressional District. The district covers Orlando’s northeastern suburbs in Seminole County as well as portions of Volusia County to the east.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report currently rates the Florida 7th District contest as “Likely Republican.”
President Trump had endorsed Mills, but notably did not re-up his message of support on Truth Social in recent days, as he had done with several other GOP candidates in Florida.
Mills, the 11th House incumbent to lose a primary this cycle, repeatedly described himself as the “only candidate in Florida’s 7th endorsed by President Trump” as part of his closing message to voters.
The House Ethics Committee revealed this past May that it had issued more than 20 subpoenas, reached out to dozens of witnesses, and pored over thousands of documents related to Mills.
Of particular concern to the bipartisan panel is the DC Metropolitan Police Department investigation into a report that the congressman attacked a female Republican activist at his penthouse in the nation’s capital in February 2025.
Mills was not charged in that incident, but the ethics committee noted in May that “a decision not to bring charges is not a finding of innocence or ‘no wrongdoing.’”
The woman, Sarah Raviani, allowed cops to listen to a recorded phone call in which Mills “instruct[ed] her to lie about the origin of her bruises,” according to a copy of the police report reviewed by NBC News, and the congressman “admitted [to officers] that the situation escalated from verbal to physical.”
The ethics committee is also investigating a court injunction issued in October 2025 restricting Mills’ social media usage and contact pertaining to a woman — likely his ex-girlfriend, Lindsey Langston.
Langston, who was crowned Miss United States in 2024, has claimed Mills tried to blackmail her with revenge porn.
The beauty queen, who was in a relationship with Mills until February 2025, accused him of harassment via text, including one May 15, 2025, message in which he told her, “Strap up cowboy” — which she interpreted as a warning that he would release videos of the two “engaging in sexual acts,” according to a report to the Columbia (Fla.) County Sheriff’s Office on July 14, 2025.
Mills dodged a censure attempt earlier this year, but has faced calls to resign from Congress, while Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) introduced a resolution this past April to expel him from the House.She accused Mills at the time of “beating women and telling them to lie about it, cyberstalking women, lying about his military service, and profiting off his seat.”
“Any Member who votes to keep him here is voting to protect a woman beater and a fraud,” Mace asserted. “He needs to be expelled immediately.”
