Overview
- Circuit Court Judge J. Lee Marsh dismissed the challenge with prejudice on Friday, July 17, ruling Mills meets statutory eligibility and noting state election officials had accepted his qualifying paperwork.
- The lawsuit, filed June 19 by Republican rival Michael Johnson, alleged Mills failed to sign at least one qualifying document and that a notary executed a notarization in Washington, D.C. rather than in Florida.
- The case relied on a recently passed Florida election-integrity law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, but that law does not take effect until Jan. 1, 2027, after this election cycle.
- Johnson’s team says it will appeal the dismissal to a higher court, which could change Mills’s status on the Aug. 18 GOP primary ballot before voters cast ballots.
- Mills still faces a separate U.S. House Ethics investigation with multiple subpoenas and a weak second-quarter fundraising showing of about $60,000 raised and $81,000 on hand, factors that sustain political risk for his campaign.