Scandal-plagued GOP Rep. Cory Mills unseated in Florida by ex-TV anchor Ryan Elijah

Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) lost his bid for a third congressional term Tuesday night to former Orlando TV news reporter Ryan Elijah. 

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Elijah, who once hosted “Good Day Orlando” and “Orlando Matters” on Fox affiliate WOFL, led Mills 47.1% to 34.2% with almost all the vote counted.

Mills, 46, had struggled to raise money as he fought a House Ethics Committee investigation of “serious and complex” accusations, including claims of domestic assault, stolen valor and financial misconduct.

Elijah racked up dozens of endorsements in recent weeks, including from Mills’ GOP colleagues Anna Paulina Luna and Mike Haridopolos. 

The 54-year-old Elijah, who previously made an unsuccessful bid for Congress in Indiana in 2010, said the late support from lawmakers showed Mills had “lost trust and confidence.”

“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 will face Democrat Bale Dalton, a Navy veteran and former top NASA official, for the right to represent Florida’s 7th District, which includes Orlando’s northeastern suburbs in Seminole County and parts of Volusia County to the east.

The race is rated “Likely Republican” by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

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.

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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.” 

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