Cory Mills seat added to House Dems’ ‘Districts in Play,’ joining Anna Paulina Luna, Maria Elvira Salazar

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) just added U.S. Rep. Cory Mills to its list of Republican targets in 2026.

In announcing a national list of GOP-held “Districts in Play,” House Democrats put Florida’s 7th Congressional District on the charts. That puts Mills among U.S. Reps. Anna Paulina Luna and María Elvira Salazar as Florida members of Congress in the sights of House Democrats’ campaign arm.

“Cory Mills, Anna Paulina Luna and Maria Elvira Salazar are running scared, and they should be,” said DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene.

“From tanking the economy, gutting Medicaid, abandoning our veterans, to making everything more expensive, they’ve broken their promises to Floridians, and it’s going to cost them their seats. The DCCC is already working to recruit authentic and battle-ready candidates in Florida who reflect these districts and will work to better Floridians’ lives, not line Elon Musk’s and their D.C. party bosses’ pockets.”

In all Districts in Play, the DCCC has set up a fund to support Democratic challengers in the General Election next year. That includes seats where there may be a Democratic Primary, where funds will be set aside to help whoever wins the nomination next August.

Funds in Florida’s 7th, 13th and 27th Congressional Districts will go live Tuesday and start collecting contributions.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) voiced confidence all three Republican incumbents will win re-election.

“Anna Paulina Luna, Maria Elvira Salazar, and Cory Mills have always been relentless fighters for Florida families and Democrats thinking they can unseat them is a pipe dream,” said Maureen O’Toole, NRCC spokesperson. “Voters will send them back to Congress and Democrats will embarrass themselves.”

Facing nationally backed competitors will be familiar for Luna and Salazar, who were both DCCC targets in 2024. The House Majority PAC already announced in December it would target Luna. At the time, that super PAC said it would keep an eye on Mills’ and Salazar’s seats, as well as districts represented by U.S. Reps. Carlos Giménez and Laurel Lee.

DCCC officials say national Democrats felt galvanized by two Special Elections for Florida seats last week. That included a race in Florida’s 6th Congressional District, adjacent to Mills’ district, where Republican Randy Fine won but Democrat Josh Weil overperformed by 16 percentage points compared to party performance there in the November election.

Mills won re-election in 2024 over Democrat Jennifer Adams by 13 points. Adams last week launched her campaign to challenge Mills again.

Additionally, Mills has earned negative attention, particularly over an assault initially reported by Iranian American activist Sarah Raviani, who later pulled back from accusations and said she suffered bruises from a trip to Dubai. Mills and Raviani both listed the Washington high-rise where the incident occurred as their home, though Mills is married and lives in New Smyrna Beach.

Of note, Mills may not even run for another House term, and has hinted he is still considering a run for U.S. Senate against appointed U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody, a Republican.

Luna and Salazar have both been targets of House Democrats since their respective arrivals in the House. Luna won re-election by less than 10 points in November over Democrat Whitney Fox. Salazar beat Democrat Lucia Báez-Geller by more than 20 points, but won election in 2020 by beating Democratic incumbent Donna Shalala by less than 3 points.

All three lawmakers represent districts held by Democrats less than a decade ago, though redistricting in 2022 made all three seats lean more Republican than in the past.