{"id":6907,"date":"2026-08-19T08:07:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T08:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6907"},"modified":"2026-08-19T08:07:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T08:07:13","slug":"scandal-plagued-gop-rep-cory-mills-unseated-in-florida-by-ex-tv-anchor-ryan-elijah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6907","title":{"rendered":"Scandal-plagued GOP Rep. Cory Mills unseated in Florida by ex-TV anchor Ryan Elijah"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) lost his bid for a third congressional term Tuesday night to former Orlando TV news reporter Ryan Elijah.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Rep. Jared Moskowitz beats DSA-backed primary challenger in redrawn Florida district<\/a><\/p>\n

Elijah, who once hosted \u201cGood Day Orlando\u201d and \u201cOrlando Matters\u201d on Fox affiliate WOFL, led Mills 47.1% to 34.2% with almost all the vote counted.<\/p>\n

Mills, 46, had struggled to raise money as he fought a House Ethics Committee investigation of \u201cserious and complex\u201d accusations, including claims of domestic assault, stolen valor and financial misconduct.<\/p>\n

Elijah racked up dozens of endorsements in recent weeks, including from Mills\u2019 GOP colleagues Anna Paulina Luna and Mike Haridopolos.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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 \u201clost trust and confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t personal for me. I\u2019m in it so we don\u2019t lose this seat,\u201d Elijah said during a debate earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Elijah will face Democrat Bale Dalton, a Navy veteran and former top NASA official, for the right to represent Florida\u2019s 7th District, which includes Orlando\u2019s northeastern suburbs in Seminole County and parts of Volusia County to the east.<\/p>\n

The race is rated \u201cLikely Republican\u201d by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Mills, the 11th House incumbent to lose a primary this cycle, repeatedly described himself as the \u201conly candidate in Florida\u2019s 7th endorsed by President Trump\u201d as part of his closing message to voters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The House Ethics Committee revealed this past May that it had issued more than 20 subpoenas, \u00a0reached out to\u00a0dozens of witnesses,\u00a0and pored over thousands of documents\u00a0related to Mills.<\/p>\n

Read more GOP Rep. Byron Donalds, former Republican David Jolly to face off in Florida governor race<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u2019s capital in February 2025.<\/p>\n

Mills was not charged in that incident, but the ethics committee noted in May that \u201ca decision not to bring charges is not a finding of innocence or \u2018no wrongdoing.’\u201d<\/p>\n

The woman, Sarah Raviani,\u00a0allowed cops to listen to a recorded phone call in which Mills \u201cinstruct[ed] her to lie about the origin of her bruises,\u201d according to a copy of the police report reviewed by NBC News, and the congressman \u201cadmitted [to officers] that the situation escalated from verbal to physical.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ethics committee is also investigating a court injunction issued in October 2025 restricting Mills\u2019 social media usage and contact pertaining to a woman \u2014 likely his ex-girlfriend, Lindsey Langston.<\/p>\n

Langston, who was crowned Miss United States in 2024, has claimed Mills tried to blackmail her with revenge porn.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

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, \u201cStrap up cowboy\u201d \u2014 which she interpreted as a warning that he would release videos of the two \u201cengaging in sexual acts,\u201d according to a report to the Columbia (Fla.) County Sheriff\u2019s Office on July 14, 2025.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0accused Mills\u00a0at the time\u00a0of \u201cbeating women and telling them to lie about it, cyberstalking women, lying about his military service, and profiting off his seat.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAny Member who votes to keep him here is voting to protect a woman beater and a fraud,\u201d Mace asserted. \u201cHe needs to be expelled immediately.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Primary elections 2026 live updates:\u00a0Byron Donalds makes no mention of Trump in victory speech\u00a0after winning Florida GOP gov race<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite being backed by President Trump, scandal-plagued Republican Rep. Cory Mills lost his congressional primary race Tuesday night to former TV news anchor Ryan Elijah in Florida’s 7th District.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6906,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nScandal-plagued GOP Rep. 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