ORLANDO, Fla. – Cory Mills, a Central Florida Republican just elected to a second term in Congress, has said he will run for the U.S. Senate seat now occupied by Sen. Marco Rubio, regardless who Governor Ron DeSantis chooses for the post.
“You can probably guarantee that my hat will be thrown in the ring for 2026,” Mills told reporters at the Florida Republican Annual Meeting in Orlando.
Rubio, who was elected for a third term two years ago, is stepping down because newly-elected President Donald Trump tapped him to become secretary of state. DeSantis will appoint someone to hold the position until 2026, when it will be voted on again. The 2026 winner will serve two years before facing voters again.
DeSantis said in the past week that he has not yet decided who he will choose for the job, although on Friday he strongly ruled out any consideration of appointing himself to the position. One of the leading contenders for the nomination is Attorney General Ashley Moody, a strong ally of DeSantis.
DeSantis said he wants the next senator to support Trump, push for federal debt reduction and take strong positions on immigration, including overhauling the H1B visa program.
Mills is a U.S. Army veteran who worked for a defense contractor and also founded his own security consulting firm. He was first elected in 2022 during a crowded and contentious Republican primary for a central Florida seat that was reshaped after the once-in-a-decade redistricting process.
Mills was one of several Florida congressmen who supported Trump over DeSantis, one of the first embarrassing moments for the Republican governor in his failed quest for the presidency.
Mills’ name was floated as a possible candidate for the Rubio seat, but he acknowledged Saturday that he has not discussed the position with DeSantis. Still, he touted himself as a good successor to Rubio because of his focus on foreign affairs — a topic he has discussed regularly on Fox News.
Mills’ move to win the Senate seat means DeSantis’ choice will not guarantee an easy path to re-election and could be a sign that the vacancy could lead to a highly competitive and potentially expensive battle in the third-largest state of the country.
Mills gave what could be considered a warm-up speech for a possible run at the state party’s annual meeting on Saturday, where he hinted at his future ambitions. He galvanized the crowd by talking about the rescue missions he organized in Israel and Afghanistan, saying generals involved in the failed withdrawal from Afghanistan should lose their command positions.
Mills also said the nation should focus on “GOD” rather than critical race theory or diversity efforts in the military, and effusively praised Trump and the “America First” agenda. Mills also called the national debt an “existential threat” to the United States.
