With a number of
salacious accusations and an
Ethics Committee investigation swirling, Rep. Cory Mills can rightly be described as an embattled congressman. But a new, far-less-scandalous accusation now threatens to take Mills off the ballot in November: bad paperwork.
One of Mills’ Republican opponents, Michael Johnson, recently filed a
formal legal complaint alleging Mills improperly notarized his candidate documents — and Johnson wants a judge to strike his fellow Republican from the Florida primary ballot.
The complaint centers on an accusation that Mills didn’t have his candidate forms notarized in Florida. Instead, the complaint alleges that Mills was in Washington, D.C., when he completed the documents, using fellow Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube’s chief of staff, Alejandro Blair — who’s a Florida notary — to verify the paperwork.
The complaint notes that Blair isn’t a notary in D.C. And Blair’s notary stamp, which appears on the candidate form attached to the complaint, says he’s licensed in Florida.
Had Mills used a D.C. notary while in D.C., he could have submitted the paperwork. But under
Florida law, the notary must authorize the documents in the state they’re licensed to practice.
Mills had his paperwork notarized on June 4, 2026. And evidence suggests he was on Capitol grounds throughout that day.
The House Armed Services Committee — of which Mills is a member — marked up its version of the annual defense policy bill on June 4. It’s generally considered the biggest legislative day for the panel, and according to
a log of the markup, Mills was present for committee votes, which started just before 2:10 p.m. and ended around midnight.
Mills also voted on the House floor on June 4, with seven recorded votes taking place between 4:45 p.m. and just after 8 p.m. Mills can even be seen in C-SPAN footage on the House floor.
Making the potential window for travel even narrower, Mills also
voted on the House floor on the evening of June 3. But according to his candidate paperwork, Mills signed the documents — and had them notarized by Blair — in Florida on June 4.
In his complaint, Johnson alleges that Mills did not “personally take and subscribe the oath in the required manner,” arguing that Mills may have actually used an “autopen, mechanical signature device, or other non-personal means.”
Johnson says these issues mean Mills is not “lawfully qualified as a candidate.”
“This is just another example of Cory Mills deceiving the voters of this congressional district,” Johnson told MS NOW on Tuesday.
“As we all know, there’s an open House Ethics investigation regarding potential financial violations, sexual misconduct, business issues, stolen valor, and misuse of his office,” Johnson continued. “Everyone in this district encourages Cory Mills to resign. It’d be an ironic end if the thing that takes him down is a paperwork error.”
Neither Mills nor Blair responded to multiple requests for comment on Tuesday.
