Two Florida House Republicans Endorse Challenger to Embattled Rep. Cory Mills

AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.

Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) has racked up a significant list of scandals and his now re-election campaign has lost the support of some key Florida Republicans — including two of his congressional colleagues.

The allegations against Mills, a 45-year-old Army veteran who has co-founded several security and defense contracting companies, include multiple on-the-record stolen valor accusations from soldiers who served with him in combat, a House Ethics Committee investigation into his business dealings and financial disclosures, a report he was being evicted from his D.C. penthouse apartment after his landlord accused him of owing $85,000, an accusation from 27-year-old Sarah Raviani that he had assaulted her at that D.C. apartment, accusations he was caught with sex workers during a 2021 rescue mission to help evacuate Americans from Afghanistan, and a restraining order that was issued to another ex-girlfriend, former Miss United States and Florida GOP state committeewoman Lindsey Langston, who said in court filings that Mills had continued to aggressively pursue and harass her for months after she dumped him, ignoring her repeated rejections and requests to leave her alone, sending threatening messages that “intensified over time,” and included “emotional manipulation,” “physical violence against whoever I date in the future,” and threats to release nude images and sexually explicit videos of her.

Mills, who has been endorsed by President Donald Trump, has denied wrongdoing, but has still faced public criticism from other House Republicans, including Reps. Nancy Mace (R-SC) and Kat Cammack (R-FL). On the other hand, thus far GOP leadership have not seemed inclined to push him out; Speaker Mike Johnson has repeatedly shrugged off questions from reporters about Mills by saying these were “allegations” and he was “not in the business of commenting on investigations as they’re in process.”

On Wednesday, former TV journalist Ryan Elijah scored major endorsements from two of Mills’ congressional colleagues in his primary challenge for Florida’s seventh congressional district, Reps. Mike Haridopolos (R-FL) and Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL).

Elijah’s campaign released a joint statement from Haridopolos and Paulina Luna that did not mention Mills by name but implied a sharp contrast between the two candidates by praising Elijah as “a trusted voice in our community” and “a husband and father who raised his family right here in the district” whom they were “confident” would “represent our shared values with distinction and deliver results for the families of Seminole and Volusia Counties.”

“We wholeheartedly endorse Ryan Elijah and urge our fellow Republicans to join us in supporting him,” Haridopolos and Paulina Luna’s statement concluded.

Thus far, these two are the only members of Congress who have endorsed Elijah against Mills, but the challenger has built a growing list of endorsements from other Florida politicos, including former Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, former Speaker of the Florida House Paul Renner, Florida State Sen. Tom Wright, Florida State Rep. Rachel Plakon, and both sheriffs for the counties in his district, Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma and Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood.

Still, the defections from Mills’ fellow members of the Florida GOP delegation raised eyebrows in state political media.

“[T]he fact that Mills’ colleagues are now turning against him shows a new threat level weeks ahead of the Aug. 18 Primary,” wrote Florida Politics reporter Jacob Ogles.

Two other Republicans, Sarah Ulrich and Mike Johnson, are running as well, but Mills and Elijah are viewed as the most likely contenders to win the August 18 primary due to fundraising advantages and being the only two who scored support in the double digits in recent polling.

A survey by St. Pete Polls conducted on August 3 through August 4 of 304 likely GOP primary voters in the district found that Mills was the choice of 29.5% of respondents and Elijah had 13.9%, but with a whopping 41% undecided.

The poll respondents were drawn from Florida voter rolls and questioned via telephone or text message. The margin of error was +/- 5.6 percentage points.

Mills might have a “more than 15-percentage-point lead” in this poll, but “it’s not as wide of a margin as incumbents typically enjoy,” leaving “a lane for Elijah to take,” wrote Janelle Irwin Taylor at Florida Politics, especially with the large number of undecided voters and a margin of error that covers roughly a third of Mills’ lead.

The incumbent is also facing “a slowdown in support,” wrote Irwin Taylor, with Elijah far outpacing Mills in fundraising and cash on hand. Florida Politics’ review of the candidates’ most recent finance reports showed Elijah raising almost $168,000 in the last quarter and nearly $268,000 cash on hand compared to Mills raising less than $60,000 and $81,000 cash on hand.

Mediaite reached out to Cammack’s campaign regarding Elijah’s endorsements from Haridopolos and Paulina Luna to inquire if she would be joining her colleagues in light of her past criticism of Mills, but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

The post Two Florida House Republicans Endorse Challenger to Embattled Rep. Cory Mills first appeared on Mediaite.