In a race that drew national attention, voters tossed U.S. Rep. Cory Mills from Congress on Tuesday, as the scandal-plagued Republican was defeated by former TV anchor Ryan Elijah — a political newcomer who quickly grew a well-financed campaign.

Elijah, 54, will face Democrat Bale Dalton, a captain in the U.S. Navy Reserve, in the Nov. 3 general election for the U.S. Congressional District 7 seat.

“To go against the conventional wisdom and win against an incumbent, that’s what excited me,” Elijah said at his victory party at Decision Tactical in Sanford. He called it a “people’s win.”

In the Democratic primary, Bale, 45, defeated former U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson and candidate Marialana Kinter, a UCF student and former Naval nuclear reactor supervisor. According to early results, Bale garnered just over 45% of the vote, followed by Kinter with nearly 36%.

But it was the Mills race that pitted members of the GOP against each other, with President Donald Trump giving his early endorsement to Mills, who was seeking his third Congressional term. But Mills was left off Trump’s most recent Congressional endorsements released last week.

And other Republicans — including U.S. Rep. Mike Haridopolos and Gov. Ron DeSantis — refused to back him, giving the nod to Elijah.

Over the past two years, Mills faced a series of scandals and an ethics investigation.

A former girlfriend was granted a protection order against him. In another case, Mills was investigated by Washington D.C. police after a woman claimed she was assaulted. And Mills was under investigation by the House Ethics Committee. It’s also been reported the Mills is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Mills also has been accused of misrepresenting his military record.

He has denied any wrongdoing.

Elijah, of Sanford, entered the race in May and quickly collected endorsements from several prominent individuals — including Seminole Sheriff Dennis Lemma, Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood, and former Congressman and Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum. He also amassed a large campaign chest, collecting more than $300,000 within a few months.

In the end, Mills won 34% of the vote Tuesday, far short of Elijah’s nearly 47%, according to results from the Associated Press.

On the Democratic Party side, Dalton had garnered the support of former U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and former congressional representatives Val Demings and Stephanie Murphy.

Congressional District 7 takes in all of Seminole and part of Volusia. The area has leaned red in recent elections.

However, according to the well-regarded Silver Bulletin, a political analysis site by statistician Nate Silver, Dalton has a slight edge in winning November’s general election.

In other Congressional races tied to Central Florida:

In the crowded Republican primary for the House District 9 seat, Dan Green, edged out candidate Ben Butler and five other opponents.

Green will face Democratic U.S. Rep. Darren Soto in the general election. Soto won his party’s nomination without opposition.

U.S. House District 9 covers southwest Orange, west Osceola and a portion of Brevard counties. But the district was one of several redrawn by Florida’s Republican leaders this spring, so Soto’s change of winning is now slimmer than it was in his previous elections. He has held the seat since 2017.

In the race for the U.S. House District 11 seat, Democrat James Pericola, an attorney and senior government affairs executive, defeated two opponents to win his party’s nomination.

While in the GOP primary, Joe Strada held a slim lead over Carey Baker, a former Lake County property appraiser, but the outcome was too close to call late Tuesday.

The Congressional District 11 seat — which represents most of west Orange, south Lake and east Sumter counties — became open after long-time Republican U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster announced his retirement in April.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.