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Candidates › FL-07 race › 2025–2026
Bale Dalton
D Democratic nominee for U.S. House, FL-07
Has not served in Congress
- On the ballot
- On the general election ballotNov 3, 2026 · Florida US House 7
- Where to vote
- Find your polling place (opens in a new tab) · More ways to vote
- Top priorities
- Making Florida Affordable Again
- Fixing Our Broken Health Care System and Protecting Retirement
- Fighting Government Waste & Giving Working Families a Tax Break
- Cracking Down On Corruption
- Building More Affordable Housing
- Money
- $2.3M raised, $2.1M spent, $202.3K cash on hand (through Oct 14, 2026). Where it comes from
- Who gives
- 13% of individual money from donors at $200 or less · 44% from Florida · largest committee giver FAIR SHOT PAC, $10K
- Outside groups
- $1.1M supporting, $380.6K opposing Dalton
- Backed by
- Mel Martinez · Bill Nelson · DCCC Red To Blue and 24 more. As the campaign lists them
10 priorities from baledalton.com, in the order they are listed there. Every heading and the text under it is copied exactly, as one passage for each page it is from, and links to that place on the page; hover a source to see which passage it opens.
For too many Florida families, the American Dream feels like a math problem that just doesn’t add up. We see it every time we walk through the checkout lane: a family of four now averages over $1,000 a month just for groceries. From the price of a gallon of gas or a pound of beef to soaring utility rates and skyrocketing property insurance rates, the cost of living is making it increasingly difficult, even impossible, for hardworking Floridians to get by and save for the future.
But instead of working to fix these problems, DC politicians have voted time after time to make life harder and more expensive for Florida families. My opponent, Ryan Elijah, supports the illegal tariff taxes that made everything from groceries to car repairs more expensive, while raising costs for families and small businesses. He supports the legislation that raised the cost of health care premiums by thousands of dollars every month – all to pay for tax giveaways for billionaires. And he championed the rudderless war with Iran that made our gas prices in Florida go through the roof, calling it “the cost of freedom.”
My first priority in Congress will be working to make Florida affordable again. We need to stop the bleeding, by reversing health care premium hikes and illegal, unpredictable tariffs. But more than that, we need representatives who will fight for working families – not for another tax giveaway for corporations and billionaires.
We need to crack down on the power companies and property insurers that are ripping Floridians off and raising rates year after year, without any improvement in service. Tallahassee has let these companies run state-sanctioned monopolies for too long. In Congress, I will be laser-focused on fostering competition, not consolidation, and fighting for a better deal for Florida families. With prices rising, wages also need to keep up – which is why I support raising the federal minimum wage and passing the PRO Act, so labor unions can advocate for workers in a changing economy.
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Too many Florida families are one health emergency away from financial disaster. While our health care system has been broken for a long time, Congress made the problem even worse last year by voting to cut Medicaid, Medicare, and to hike premium costs on hardworking families. Thanks to the legislation that my opponent supports, health insurance premiums for ACA plans are up to four times as high as they were just a year ago, and tens of thousands of Central Floridians have lost coverage altogether.
Even for seniors who have access to Medicare, premiums are on the rise and prescription medications are often unaffordable. Seniors who have worked their entire lives have earned retirement with dignity and security. And now, Social Security and the Medicare Trust Fund risk going bankrupt by 2033. Our government has created an absolute crisis in our health care and retirement systems, to fund tax breaks and FICA loopholes for the ultra-wealthy.
We need to elect members of Congress who will restore funding to Medicaid, reverse premium cuts, and protect Social Security and Medicare for generations to come. We also must lower costs throughout our health care system, which is why I support negotiating drug prices in the United States – like every other wealthy country does – to keep Americans from being ripped off. We need to build on the Affordable Care Act to lower premiums, deductibles, and surprise medical bills that keep hardworking families from seeking care.
And here in Florida, women and girls face yet another health crisis. The state’s dangerous, six-week abortion ban puts politicians between women and their doctors, making women everywhere less safe and less free. That’s why I support codifying Roe into federal law, to put these decisions back where they belong – with patients.
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Families in Volusia and Seminole Counties, and throughout Central Florida, don’t just deserve a tax cut – they need one, period. It’s that simple. But for too long, we’ve watched as billionaires and multinational corporations have been given massive tax giveaways and financial loopholes for their shareholders, all paid for by middle-class families who are left paying the tab.
Meanwhile, our government in Washington continues to waste countless billions of dollars, further eroding taxpayers’ trust, not to mention their hard-earned tax dollars. It’s outrageous that the Administration chose to spend $200 million on jets for Kristi Noem, $125 million on new plaques to rename the Pentagon, and $20 billion to bail out Argentina’s economy – all instead of helping people pay their bills in Florida. That’s our money they’re spending, and those priorities are totally backwards.
Our elected leaders are meant to be trustworthy stewards of our tax dollars, so that when you pay your fair share, you actually receive the services you would expect for what you paid. But with wasteful spending in Washington and a tax code skewed toward the ultra-rich, it is nearly impossible for middle-class families to believe they are truly seeing a return on their investments in our government.
At the same time, our rising national debt – under both Democratic and Republican leadership – is increasingly a matter of grave national security, as foreign adversaries like China are able to buy up our debt and force taxpayers to send their hard-earned income abroad, instead of going toward securing our country, growing our economy, and improving our quality of life.
While some of the income tax changes in the OBBB were a step in the right direction for working families, seniors, and small businesses, we need a Congress committed to providing immediate tax relief for Florida families and tackling wasteful spending.
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Trust in government is at all time lows, and with good reason. Here in Central Florida, our sitting Congressman is being investigated by the House Ethics Committee for conflicts of interest, sexual misconduct, corruption, and campaign finance violations. My opponent, Ryan Elijah, is carrying on with this pattern; he’s been hit with a House Ethics complaint before Election Day has even arrived. And throughout Washington, members of Congress are getting rich by trading insider information on stock and prediction markets.
As a Navy helicopter pilot and squadron leader, I’ve spent my career in environments that demand complete accountability – so this behavior is disgusting to me. That’s why I support barring all federal employees and elected officials from betting on prediction markets. As a combat veteran, I was sickened to see folks placing bets on prediction markets about whether our F-15 pilot and Weapons System Officer in Iran would come home alive. It’s time to place real penalties on elected officials who bet against America and play by a different set of rules than the rest of us.
We should also be making it illegal for politicians to profit off of their positions by trading stocks on the very companies they are supposed to regulate. We need to stop the influence of special interests and lobbyists who can pay for access to lawmakers. We need representation in DC that is fighting for the working class instead of their corporate billionaire friends and wealthy donors.
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As a Navy veteran, I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to use a VA loan to buy my home. I want home ownership to be accessible to all young people, not just those who have deployed overseas; and for many families in Central Florida today, that dream has become unreachable. Last year, the share of first-time home buyers dropped to an all-time low of just 21%, while the median age for first-time home buyers rose to 40-years-old, also a record. Even for those who are able to buy a house, homeownership has gone from a source of economic stability to a source of constant financial anxiety.
It’s not just the sticker price that is causing problems for families young and old throughout central Florida; it’s the mountain of costs that comes with it. Between high interest rates, skyrocketing HOA fees, and rising property taxes, families are being stretched to the breaking point. Home insurance rates also continue to climb year after year, and too often, when disaster strikes, that insurance is little more than the right to sue for the coverage you already paid for. Meanwhile, nonrenewal rates have increased by over 100% in many counties across the state just in the last few years.
Congress must act to address the housing affordability crisis that has swept our state and our country. While we absolutely need to enable the creation of more housing at all income levels in order to increase supply, we also should ban Wall Street speculators from buying up single-family homes, which further reduces options for families and drives up costs for everyone else.
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As a lifelong outdoorsman, some of my best memories weren’t in the office, but out on the water – from beautiful Wekiwa Springs and Lake Monroe to the Canaveral National Seashore and Indian River Lagoon. Florida is the greatest state in the union, and that greatness is rooted in our natural landscape that has enabled our way of life for generations.
Florida also produces more energy than nearly every state in the union, trailing only Texas and Pennsylvania, thanks to our robust natural gas sector and a solar energy industry that even outstrips California. But for too many politicians in Washington – on both the left and the right – protecting clean air and clean water while meeting our energy needs is seen as a conflict, instead of an opportunity.
Preserving environmental resources and preventing drilling off the coasts of Florida means protecting the Eglin Gulf Test and Training Range, as well as the Eastern Range, so that our military and our space program can continue to operate in order to keep our nation safe and secure. Endorsing an all-of-the-above energy policy means strengthening our nation’s energy independence and reducing our need for foreign oil and Chinese solar while also lowering costs for American consumers.
In the greatest state in the greatest nation on earth, we need to think bigger and more ambitiously than the sorts of partisan false choices that many in Washington continue to pose.
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During my 24 years and counting in the Navy and Navy Reserves, I’ve deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa, and the Pacific, flying medevac missions and fighting extremist groups that mean America harm. I understand as well as anyone what our military is capable of with the right funding and the right priorities – and what it takes to get the job done for America.
I support a robust national security and border security infrastructure that prioritizes the American people and American interests, at home and abroad. China and other foreign adversaries are doing all they can to supplant the United States of America’s role, and are more than willing to weaken our country in order to achieve those goals.
We can meet these challenges and ensure that our economy and our defense capabilities remain the best in the world. But doing so requires avoiding more forever wars in the Middle East, and having clear, strategic goals that guide our military operations. Additionally, we need to ensure that our spending overseas generates an adequate return on investment for America – rather than spending millions mindlessly on bloated, international bureaucracies.
We also must do more to ensure that every single American who serves their country, and their families, receives the benefits that they so rightly earned through their service. When we send men and women overseas to war and armed conflicts, we owe it to them to provide the support and services they need to thrive when they come home. As a veteran who has dedicated my career to service, I can promise to continue to put my country first – along with the brave men and women who serve it.
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I grew up hunting in central Florida, and learned firearm safety at a young age from my father. At the Naval Academy, one of the first things we did was learn to operate, take care of, and shoot firearms. Since then, I’ve spent much of my adult life carrying a firearm in order to maintain my safety and the safety of those I worked and served with.
As a gun owner today, I understand and deeply believe that the Second Amendment is a fundamental right for law-abiding citizens in this country, as it should be. I also believe that gun owners should be well-trained and responsible, and that violent criminals should not have access to firearms. Despite what the partisan rhetoric would have you think, these are commonsense and commonly held beliefs, in Florida and across the nation.
Public safety, whether from gun violence or any other type of violent crime, is our government’s number one priority. Without safe communities and safe schools, we cannot have prosperous families and prosperous businesses. We must ensure that our police departments are fully funded and have the resources they need to do their job well.
I’m not interested in partisan politicians who refuse to talk about the need to keep firearms out of the hands of dangerous criminals, or who refuse to talk about the need to adequately fund our law enforcement agencies and public safety officers. We can safeguard our freedoms as law-abiding citizens in this country while also keeping crime off our streets and out of our schools.
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As a Navy helicopter pilot and former NASA Chief of Staff, I’ve spent my career in environments that demand complete accountability. In combat zones, there is no margin for error. The same holds true at NASA, where dangerous missions and critical safety needs require strict adherence to standards.
It’s time for the U.S. Congress to be held to similar standards. Trust in government is at a record low, because Americans see Washington getting rich while people are struggling to pay their utility bills. This is particularly true in Central Florida, where our current Congressman, Cory Mills, has been constantly enmeshed in corruption and conflict of interest scandals. The new Republican nominee, Ryan Elijah, promises more of the same, as he already faces a House Ethics complaint and has pledged that he intends to trade stocks while sitting in Congress.
This needs to end. If elected, I would work to pass a comprehensive series of reforms.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · baledalton.com/anti-corruption-plan
In Florida, a grand jury found that Gov. DeSantis’s cronies in Tallahassee stole $10 million in taxpayer money that was earmarked for poor children’s health insurance. They then put this money – our tax dollars – into political action committees. A grand jury found that the money had been misappropriated, but with insiders covering up for each other, everyone is walking free. Corruption is a problem on both sides of the aisle – just take a look at Senator Bob Menendez and the gold bars he kept in his basement. Punishing corruption can’t be inconsistent and politically driven. In every instance, we need to prosecute corruption to the full extent of the law and send corrupt politicians to prison.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · baledalton.com/anti-corruption-plan
While Americans are struggling to afford gas and groceries, D.C. insiders are getting rich. Members of Congress have been caught trading stocks like Zoom prior to the COVID-19 lockdowns, and buying defense stocks right before conflicts break out. We know that insider trading is happening – but not a single member of Congress has been prosecuted under the laws designed to regulate it. Instead, the penalties under current law start at $200 – which is a drop in the bucket relative to the profits members of Congress have made on insider information. Democrats and Republicans are guilty of this, and any real accountability starts with banning individual stock trading for all members of Congress.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · baledalton.com/anti-corruption-plan
As a veteran, I was sickened to see online prediction markets betting on whether the downed F-15 pilot and Weapons System Officer in Iran were going to come home alive. These grotesque prediction markets allow politicians and insiders to cash in by betting against America. With so much money at stake, it’s no coincidence that our government in D.C. has gone so far as to sue state governments that tried to regulate prediction markets. It’s time for Congress to take action, and make this insider betting illegal.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · baledalton.com/anti-corruption-plan
We have seen over the past years that Congress is incapable of policing itself. There are no standards in place to govern how quickly investigations move, and when Congress must update voters about ongoing investigations. The speed of an investigation should not be determined by the whims of a crony committee. The Congressional Ethics Committee must follow transparent, predictable standards for investigations – like our law enforcement officers do every single day.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · baledalton.com/anti-corruption-plan
We’ve seen an unprecedented amount of information leaking out of Washington that could actively harm our service members and intelligence personnel in the field. Our troops are putting their lives on the line to defend this country. When the people putting them in danger are Americans charged with their protection who can’t be trusted to safeguard sensitive information – the penalty needs to be serious.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · baledalton.com/anti-corruption-plan
While in office, Congressman Mills and others have made a mockery of the financial disclosure process. Ryan Elijah promises more of the same, as he is already subject to a House Ethics complaint for hiding assets on his financial disclosures. If hard-working families tried this kind of nonsense on their tax returns, they’d be worried about getting an audit from the IRS. That’s why it’s time for members of Congress to be subjected to independent audits on their filings – not the toothless review from their cronies that we’ve seen from the House Ethics Committee. There should be real penalties for lying on these disclosures, and hiding information from the American people.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · baledalton.com/anti-corruption-plan
This year alone, we’ve seen three members of Congress – Democrats and Republicans – resign from Congress in disgrace for sexual misconduct and fraud. Unbelievably, Americans may still be on the hook for paying for their retirement. Any elected or appointed government employee who is 1) found guilty of ethics violations or 2) resigns from office during an ongoing ethics investigation must forfeit their taxpayer-funded pension.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · baledalton.com/anti-corruption-plan
For too long, politicians in Washington, D.C. have leveraged their positions of power and misused taxpayer funds to silence victims of harassment and abuse. Elected members have utilized a Congressional slush fund and the resources earmarked for their personal offices to pay away misconduct allegations. There is a long and troubling history of sexual harassment and abuse from elected representatives. Let’s hold them accountable – not pay for their hush money.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · baledalton.com/anti-corruption-plan
For too long, there has been a revolving door between Congress and DC lobby shops. Lobbyists hold too much influence over our politicians, who too often want to cash in on their relationships and land lucrative positions after their term is over. Members of Congress are sent there to vote on behalf of their constituents, not to curry favor for their next job. That’s why it’s time to ban politicians from becoming lobbyists so representatives answer only to their constituents.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · baledalton.com/anti-corruption-plan