Rep. Cory Mills
Rep. Cory Mills lost his primary this week. Cory Mills

Embattled Florida Republican Congressman Cory Mills has lost his primary.

Mills, who has served as Florida's 7th District congressman since 2022, has been dogged by a House Ethics Committee investigation and faced a primary challenge from former TV reporter Ryan Elijah, who ended up winning the contest.

Elijah is expected to face Democrat Bale Dalton in the November midterm election. The seat has generally been considered safe for Republicans as President Trump won the district by 13 points in 2024.

Mills' tenure in Congress was marked by repeated allegations of misconduct. The House Ethics Committee investigation encompassed a variety of alleged offenses, including campaign finance violations, sexual misconduct, and dating violence.

Fox News recalled that Mills was accused of domestic violence in February 2025. In July of that year, there was an accusation that he threatened a former romantic partner, Lindsey Langston. Mills has denied any wrongdoing and has never faced criminal charges.

The allegations from his ex-girlfriend did result in a restraining order being granted in October 2025 as "protection against dating violence."

"Cory continued to message me on Instagram accounts I run after blocking him and asking him to not contact me. The messages progressively got more threatening over time," NBC News reported that Langston wrote in a court filing. According to the network, the threats involved the potential release by Mills of explicit images of Langston.

Following that order of protection, the House Ethics Committee investigation announced in November that its investigation was expanding. The committee said that it was looking into several potential areas of alleged misconduct by Mills, including whether he engaged in sexual misconduct or dating violence.

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In May of this year, the committee provided an update on the investigation: "These allegations are serious and complex and the ISC is devoting significant resources to the investigation. The ISC has authorized more than 20 subpoenas, collected thousands of documents, and contacted dozens of witnesses. The ISC expects to receive additional relevant documents and testimony in the coming weeks and will take all necessary steps to conduct a full and thorough investigation."

Then, in July of this year, several outlets reported that the Justice Department had launched a criminal investigation, although no details were given. At the time, Mills told MS Now that he knew nothing about it, saying, "This is the first I'm hearing about it."

He added that the Federal Election Commission had "dismissed all the campaign stuff," Mills told MS Now. "I have no open cases, criminal and or civil, anywhere in any state across the country. I have not been indicted and or accused of any type of financial fraud with regards to federal funds or otherwise."

Axios noted that although President Trump had initially supported Mills last year, a recent endorsement list released last week did not include Mills. Other Republicans had also abandoned Mills, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Fellow Republican congressional representatives Anna Paulina Luna and Mike Haridopolos each had announced their support for Elijah earlier this month.

Haridopolos told the outlet that Elijah was a "true family man who can win in November in this safe Republican seat."