Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) has blown through tens of thousands of dollars given to him by donors to fund stays at beachfront resorts, casino trips, limousines, and flights on private jets.
The reelection campaign for Mills, who faces myriad allegations ranging from domestic abuse to soliciting prostitutes, spent nearly $80,000 on fine dining, luxury lodging, private jets, and limos between February 2023 and December 2024, a Washington Examiner review of campaign finance records found. In addition to his campaign spending, Mills, who has an estimated net worth of over $20 million, took advantage of an optional program intended to help less well-off members of Congress afford the high cost of maintaining a second residence in D.C., billing taxpayers for over $15,000 in lodging and meal expenses during the first half of 2025.
Among the stories fueling the controversy surrounding the Florida congressman are: a police report stating that Mills assaulted a lover in February, a congressional ethics investigation accusing him of violating the law by profiting from federal contracts while in Congress, a public record indicating that an Islamic cleric who was an unindicted coconspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing presided over his marriage, testimony from veterans claiming that he embellished his service record, and allegations from multiple sources that he hired prostitutes while en route to Afghanistan in 2021.
The single largest luxury lodging expense recorded in Mills’s campaign finance disclosures was a $5,711 payment to the Fairmont Hotel in Puerto Rico during May 2024. The Fairmont Hotel is a five-star resort located directly on the award-winning Isla Verde Beach, boasting an on-site casino, four ocean-side pools, richly decorated Art Deco interiors, poolside bars, top-tier fitness accommodations, and a luxury spa.
It is unclear what Mills, who represents a district in central Florida, was doing at a Puerto Rican resort on campaign business.
Other Florida beachfront resorts that the congressman spent thousands of dollars in campaign cash were the Fountainbleau Hotel in Miami Beach, the Hard Rock Hotel in Daytona Beach, the Ben Hotel in West Palm Beach, the Breakers Hotel in Boynton Beach, and the Resort at Longboat Key.
Mills’s luxury lodging spending wasn’t limited to the coasts. The congressman spent roughly $1,700 at The Venetian, a legendary Las Vegas hotel, across two stays in October and November 2024. Among other things, the five-star resort features eight restaurants helmed by celebrity chefs, gondola rides across a recreation of the Italian city of Venice that doubles as a luxury shopping center, an in-house casino, and one of the best spas in Las Vegas.
As with his lodging, when it comes to getting around, Mills has expensive tastes.
Between 2023 and 2024, for instance, Mills paid well over $30,000 to Million Air Austin, Airgate Aviation, and Luxury Aircraft LLC, three vendors specializing in private aircraft. He spent an additional $7,000 in campaign funds on limo services during the same time frame, according to campaign finance records.
CORY MILLS CONTINUES TO ATTRACT ELITE DONORS DESPITE MOUNTING CONTROVERSIES
Mills occupies a district that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the official House campaign arm of the Democratic Party, has identified as one of its targets for the 2026 midterm elections. Noah Widmann, a Democrat challenging Mills, narrowly outraised him during the second quarter of 2025, Florida Politics reported. Former NASA chief of staff Bale Dalton recently entered the race against Mills as a Democrat, and Sarah Ulrich, a local businesswoman, has launched a primary bid against Mills on the GOP side.
A spokesperson for Mills declined to comment on this story.
