\n\t\t\t\t\t\tA hearing wrapped up Friday in a lawsuit that could potentially knock Republican Congressman Cory Mills off of the primary ballot, and Mills intends to fight back. Cory Mills is running for re-election in Florida’s 7th Congressional District, which he’s represented since 2023. He faces three other GOP candidates in the August primary. One of his Republican primary opponents, Michael Johnson, filed a legal complaint alleging Mills improperly notarized his candidate documents, having them signed and stamped while in Washington, D.C., when Florida law mandates that notaries must be physically present in the state when witnessing signatures. Johnson claims further that the document was not signed by Mills in the presence of the notary. “We want the judge to remove him from the ballot,” Johnson said Friday. “It’s the right solution because every other candidate that has had errors with their forms and even with a notary that is not done correctly, they reject them (…) so we’re trying to get it expedited to get his name off the ballot as soon as possible, because he did not follow the rules.” At the end of Friday’s hearing, the judge scheduled a hearing one week from today on a planned motion from Mills’ attorney to dismiss the case. If that motion is denied, a full and final hearing to determine is the congressman stays on the August primary ballot will be held July 28. WESH 2 News has reached out to Congressman Mills and has sent him a copy of the lawsuit, but he has yet to respond. Mills is currently the subject of a House Ethics Committee investigation, announced in November 2025, of whether he violated campaign finance laws, misused congressional resources, and engaged in sexual misconduct or dating violence. By that point, Mills had already been ordered by a Florida judge to have no contact with his ex-girlfriend and to not go within 500 feet of her residence or where she works after she claimed that he threatened to release nude images of her and to physically harm her future boyfriends after she broke up with him. An update shared in May states the relevant investigative subcommittee had authorized “more than 20 subpoenas, collected thousands of documents, and contacted dozens of witnesses” in the matter. >> This is a developing story and will be updated as more information is released\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
A hearing wrapped up Friday in a lawsuit that could potentially knock Republican Congressman Cory Mills off of the primary ballot, and Mills intends to fight back. <\/p>\n
Cory Mills is running for re-election in Florida’s 7th Congressional District, which he’s represented since 2023. He faces three other GOP candidates in the August primary. <\/p>\n
One of his Republican primary opponents, Michael Johnson, filed a legal complaint alleging Mills improperly notarized his candidate documents, having them signed and stamped while in Washington, D.C., when Florida law mandates that notaries must be physically present in the state when witnessing signatures. <\/p>\n
Johnson claims further that the document was not signed by Mills in the presence of the notary. <\/p>\n
“We want the judge to remove him from the ballot,” Johnson said Friday. “It’s the right solution because every other candidate that has had errors with their forms and even with a notary that is not done correctly, they reject them (…) so we’re trying to get it expedited to get his name off the ballot as soon as possible, because he did not follow the rules.” <\/p>\n
At the end of Friday’s hearing, the judge scheduled a hearing one week from today on a planned motion from Mills’ attorney to dismiss the case. <\/p>\n
If that motion is denied, a full and final hearing to determine is the congressman stays on the August primary ballot will be held July 28. <\/p>\n
WESH 2 News has reached out to Congressman Mills and has sent him a copy of the lawsuit, but he has yet to respond. <\/p>\n
Mills is currently the subject of a House Ethics Committee investigation, announced in November 2025, of whether he violated campaign finance laws, misused congressional resources, and engaged in sexual misconduct or dating violence. <\/p>\n
By that point, Mills had already been ordered by a Florida judge to have no contact with his ex-girlfriend<\/a> and to not go within 500 feet of her residence or where she works after she claimed that he threatened to release nude images of her and to physically harm her future boyfriends after she broke up with him. <\/p>\n