Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis drew a clear line on Friday, announcing that he will not support Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) in the upcoming Republican primary for Florida’s 7th Congressional District. The governor’s remarks at a press conference at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University marked the first time he had publicly addressed Mills’ candidacy amid a cascade of allegations against the incumbent.
“So this is a question about the 7th Congressional District Republican primary. I have not endorsed Cory Mills and I do not support Cory Mills,” DeSantis said, according to a report from Breitbart News.
The governor’s stance aligns him with a growing list of Republicans distancing themselves from Mills, who faces a primary challenge from Ryan Elijah. Notably, former President Donald Trump — who had previously endorsed Mills — omitted him from a recent round of endorsements ahead of the August 18 primary, signaling a retreat from his earlier backing. The absence was a striking turn for a candidate who once enjoyed the former president’s seal of approval, and it suggests that Mills may be losing the political cover that has helped him weather earlier controversies.
A Growing List of Allegations
DeSantis’s decision comes after months of scrutiny over Mills’ personal conduct and potential legal missteps. Earlier this year, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) introduced a resolution to expel Mills from Congress entirely, citing a series of allegations ranging from violence against women to misuse of his office. In a press release announcing the resolution, Mace’s office detailed incidents that have piled up against the Florida Republican, painting a picture of a congressman whose behavior has drawn criminal investigation and judicial rebukes.
According to the resolution’s supporting materials, D.C. Metropolitan Police were called to Mills’ residence last year after a 27-year-old woman reported an assault. Body camera footage and police records reportedly confirmed visible bruising consistent with a physical assault. The release alleged that Mills told the victim to lie to police and attempted to reach then-Attorney General Pam Bondi. D.C. Metro Police found probable cause to arrest Mills for misdemeanor assault, sending an arrest warrant to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, though no charges have been publicly filed.
The allegations do not stop there. Mace’s office also referenced a July 2025 incident involving a second woman who told authorities that Mills had “threatened to release intimate videos of her and harm her future romantic partners.” In October 2025, a Florida circuit court issued a Final Judgment of Injunction for Protection Against Dating Violence against Mills, which, according to the press release, came after a judge found he ignored eleven separate requests to leave the woman alone and caused her severe emotional distress.
Beyond the abuse allegations, Mace’s resolution also cited a “stolen valor” scandal and accusations that Mills violated House rules and federal law by having his companies seek federal contracts while he sat on the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services Committees. That combination of personal misconduct and potential ethics breaches has fueled calls for Mills’ expulsion from within his own party.
‘The Swamp Has Protected Cory Mills for Far Too Long’
Mace was blunt in her condemnation of Mills, suggesting that his continued presence in Congress is a failure of institutional oversight. “The swamp has protected Cory Mills for far too long and we are done letting it slide,” she said in a statement. “We tried to censure him and strip him from his committee assignments. Both parties blocked it, but we are not backing down.”
She went further, describing the evidence against Mills as “overwhelming” and accusing him 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 added. “He needs to be expelled immediately.”
Mace’s aggressive push reflects a broader GOP fracture over how to handle Mills. While some Republicans have stood by him, arguing that the allegations are unproven or politically motivated, others have concluded that his legal and ethical baggage makes him an untenable representative. DeSantis’s outright rejection of Mills’ candidacy is the most significant signal yet that the party’s establishment wing is unwilling to carry him further.
A Primary Challenge Takes Shape
With DeSantis and Trump declining to back Mills, his path to renomination has narrowed considerably. Ryan Elijah, the Republican challenging Mills in the primary, is now positioned as the alternative for voters who are uncomfortable with the incumbent’s record. The absence of Trump’s endorsement is particularly notable given that Trump’s support has been a powerful force in GOP primaries, and his silence suggests that Mills may not be able to rely on the base’s loyalty to the former president.
The primary is scheduled for August 18, and the race has become a referendum on Mills’ fitness for office. For voters in the 7th District, the choice is now framed by a stark contrast: a candidate with a history of legal entanglements and ethics complaints versus a challenger who has made the case that Mills’ behavior disqualifies him from continued service. DeSantis’s Friday remarks added a high-profile voice to that argument, and his refusal to even hedge on the question — choosing instead to state plainly that he neither endorses nor supports Mills — makes clear that the governor views the congressman as beyond the pale.
The political fallout from DeSantis’s statement is likely to ripple through the final days of the primary campaign. Mills has not publicly responded to the governor’s remarks as of this writing, and his campaign has not issued a statement addressing the allegations against him or the withdrawal of high-profile support. The silence leaves voters to weigh the mounting evidence detailed by Mace’s resolution against Mills’ own denials and his past claims of vindication.
For DeSantis, the move is a careful one. By declining to endorse Elijah or any specific challenger, he avoids fully inserting himself into a contested primary while still signaling his disapproval of the incumbent. His phrasing — “I have not endorsed Cory Mills and I do not support Cory Mills” — stops short of a formal endorsement of Elijah, but the implication is unmistakable: the governor wants Mills out.
As the primary approaches, the question now is whether Mills can survive without the backing of the party’s most influential figures. The combination of an active expulsion effort, a damning court ruling, and a governor who explicitly refuses to support him may prove too heavy a burden for any candidate to carry. And for voters who have watched the allegations unfold, DeSantis’s words may well tip the scale.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/08/14/gov-ron-desantis-i-do-not-endorse-support-cory-mills/