ORLANDO, Fla. — One of U.S. Rep. Cory Mills’ GOP opponents is seeking to oust the embattled Central Florida congressman from the primary ballot, arguing that he didn’t sign a key election document and that a judge should declare his candidacy invalid.

Mills had a required candidate’s document notarized while he was in Washington D.C. The person who notarized the form is a Congressional staffer who is authorized to perform the service in Florida but not in the nation’s capital, according to the lawsuit filed by Lake County County Commissioner Anthony Sabatini.

Sabatini, an attorney and former state lawmaker, is representing one of Mills’ opponents in the Aug. 18 Republican primary. Sabatini ran unsuccessfully against Mills in the 2022 GOP primary for the seat in Congress.

The suit, filed last month in Leon County Circuit Court, was first reported by MS Now.

Sabatini is representing Michael Johnson, who ran unsuccessfully against Mills two years ago and is challenging him again this year.

The suit claims the congressman was in the U.S. Capitol on June 4, the day a form declaring Mills’ candidacy in the Congressional District 7 race was signed by Mills and notarized by Alejandro Blair, the chief of staff for Florida Congressman Greg Stuebe. Mills was present on the House floor just after 6 p.m. that day, according to voting records submitted with the suit.

Blair indicated on the form that Mills presented his driver’s license as a form of identification. But the suit alleges Mills was not physically present when Blair notarized the form, which indicates it was signed in Sarasota County. The suit alleges Mills never signed the form, and that his signature was added by “autopen, mechanical signature device, or other non-personal means.”

And though Blair used his Florida notary stamp on the form, he was in D.C. at the time he notarized the form, according to the suit.

Mills’ time in Congress has been marred by controversy: He is the subject of a House ethics investigation and has been accused of misrepresenting his military record, engaging in unethical business dealings, assaulting a girlfriend and stalking an ex-girlfriend. Colleagues from both sides of the aisle have called on the 45-year-old congressman to resign. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Mills could not be reached for comment, as the phone number and email address listed on his campaign paperwork are not working and a staffer in his D.C. office said he could not provide a campaign contact because of House ethics rules.

Blair also could not be reached for comment, as a message left at Steube’s office went unreturned.

Mills, who is seeking is seeking his third term in office, is to face Johnson and two other opponents, Ryan Elijah and Sarah Ulrich, during the August primary to represent the red-leaning district, which includes all of Seminole County and part of Volusia County.

This lawsuit is not the only one Sabatini has filed seeking to toss a Central Florida candidate from ballots this August: He is also suing County Commissioner Maribel Gomez Cordero, who is running for Orange County Clerk of Courts on behalf of one of her opponents, former Property Appraiser Rick Singh.

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