Jacob Ogles
A Republican who launched a Primary challenge to U.S. Rep. Cory Mills will now support Mills’ Democratic opponent.
Mike Johnson, a conservative activist, said he will vote for Jennifer Adams this November in Florida’s 7th Congressional District.
“This Congressional seat is not about party affiliation. It’s about our local values: honor, integrity, trust, and doing what’s right for our community,” Johnson said.
“It’s about having a Representative who lives here full time. A Representative who cares about local issues and families. I choose to endorse Jennifer Adams as my Representative because she holds many of the American values that we all share together.”
Johnson this year challenged Mills, a New Smyrna Beach Republican. Mills first won election in 2022, flipping a seat controlled by Democrats before a controversial redistricting plan by Gov. Ron DeSantis was enacted.
Mills handily won this year’s Republican Primary with close to 81% of the vote in August. But while Johnson fell far short of sniping the nomination from the incumbent, he earned more than 10,000 votes.
If those voters take Johnson’s direction now, it could close a gap in a district that hasn’t been targeted by House Democrats, but which Adams has argued deserves national attention.
Adams’ campaign in June released an internal poll showing Mills with just a 48% to 43% lead, with 9% of voters still undecided.
“Regardless of party affiliation, people are ready to replace our extremist incumbent congressman with a bipartisan problem solver who actually represents and cares about our Central Florida community,” Adams said then.
Mills took more than 58% of the vote in 2022 over Democrat Karen Green as Republicans in the Midterm Elections overperformed statewide. But Democrats all but abandoned the seat once incumbent U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy, a Winter Park Democrat, announced her retirement as the Legislature released its first drafts shifting boundaries to make the seat more competitive.
Last cycle, Mills spent more than $2.6 million between the Republican Primary and General Election for the open seat. Green only spent a little more than $81,000.
But this cycle, Adams already spent nearly $177,000 before the end of July. She had raised upward of $193,000 for the seat.
Mills, meanwhile, raised more than $1.16 million for his re-election bid, and spent more than $1.03 million of that before the end of July.
