This story was originally published by Oviedo Community News and is republished with permission.
In a stunning upset, Republican Rep. Cory Mills lost his primary Tuesday night to Ryan Elijah, a former Fox 35 news anchor who entered the race late.
Speaking to reporters after the victory, Elijah said he’s looking forward to November and appealing to a broader group of voters.
“In [the general] election now, we can go for everybody,” Elijah said. “We have run this race to try and reach people beyond the Republican party, and that now officially starts tonight. I’m more excited about that part than this Republican primary.”
Oviedo Community News reached out to Mills by text message, and his campaign by email. Mills has not posted to social media since the Associated Press called the race Tuesday night.
Mills, a Republican representing Seminole and Volusia counties in the U.S. House of Representatives, is under multiple ethics investigations over allegations he “violated various laws, rules, or other standards of conduct.”
“That review includes a February 2025 incident, in which the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department responded to a report that Representative Mills had assaulted a woman with whom he was in a relationship,” the ethics committee wrote in a statement in May of this year. “Although the MPD determined not to charge Representative Mills for assault following this incident, a decision not to bring charges is not a finding of innocence or ‘no wrongdoing.’”
Mills was also under a “quiet” criminal investigation, according to news reports.
Elijah will face Democrat Bale Dalton, who won 12,854 votes, or 43.99%, with 93.9% of precincts reporting against opponents Marialana Kinter 11,241 votes, or 38.47%, and Alan Grayson’s 5,127 votes, or 17.55%, in Tuesday’s election. Dalton is a veteran, a former Chief of Staff for U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and a former chief of staff for NASA. Kinter is a veteran who presented herself as a grassroots candidate.
Abe Aboraya is a Report for America corps member at Oviedo Community News.
