The Full Record

U.S. House · Florida's 7th District

East-central Florida, including parts of Volusia, Seminole and Orange counties.

General election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026

✓ Fact-checked 2026-09-25: 22 claims re-checked against their sources

A second, independent research pass re-opened every cited source for this race and corrected or removed anything the source didn’t support.

  • All context, slate, biography, and Candidate Connection claims for Elijah, Dalton, and Dennison verified accurate against Ballotpedia sources, including primary results and the healthcare/tariff/stock-trading positions; no changes needed.

On the ballot · 3 candidates

Ryan ElijahR

Raised $356K · spent $170K · $186K cash on hand (through 2026-07-29) FEC filing ↗

Bale DaltonD

Raised $1.4M · spent $902K · $476K cash on hand (through 2026-07-29) FEC filing ↗

Christopher DennisonLIB

Raised $11K · spent $10K · $60 cash on hand (through 2026-06-30) FEC filing ↗

Where they stand — side by side

Only positions documented in a cited source are shown. Where an officeholder’s recorded votes speak to an issue, the votes set the position (marked “votes”). A dash means we found no clear public position — not that the candidate has none.

ISSUERyan Elijah
R
Bale Dalton
D
Christopher Dennison
LIB
Raise taxes on high earners or corporationsOpposes[2]——
Expand public health coverage—Supports[3]—
Increase police funding and staffingSupports[2]——
Broad tariffs on imported goods—Opposes[3]—

The candidates, in full

Ryan Elijah

R

Won the August 18, 2026 Republican primary over incumbent Cory Mills, Michael Johnson and Sarah Ulrich.

Ryan Elijah is the Republican nominee for the open Florida 7th Congressional District seat. A longtime local news anchor and 14-year public figure in the community, he ran on fiscal conservatism, public safety and lower taxes.[1][2]

Basic profile — the most important sourced facts we found.

Positions on the issues

  • OpposesRaise taxes on high earners or corporations

    Says he is a fiscal conservative who will fight to keep taxes low and reduce federal spending and debt.[2]

  • SupportsIncrease police funding and staffing

    Says he will push for federal funding for law-enforcement training, technology and personnel, and support tougher penalties for assaulting or shooting officers.[2]

In their words — priorities

  • Lowering taxes and cutting wasteful government spending and fraud.[2]
  • Reducing healthcare regulation to lower costs and premiums.[2]
  • Supporting law enforcement, including federal funding for training and technology and tougher penalties for assaulting officers.[2]

Background

  • Worked as a local news anchor and public figure in the community for 14 years.[2]
  • Says he comes from a military family.[2]

Campaign money

Raised $356K · spent $170K · $186K cash on hand (through 2026-07-29) FEC filing ↗

Shareable profile page

Bale Dalton

D

Won the August 18, 2026 Democratic primary over Alan Grayson and Marialana Kinter.

Bale Dalton is the Democratic nominee for the open Florida 7th Congressional District seat. A U.S. Naval Academy graduate with over 24 years in the Navy and Navy Reserve, he later worked for Sen. Bill Nelson and served as NASA Chief of Staff.[1][3]

Basic profile — the most important sourced facts we found.

Positions on the issues

  • SupportsExpand public health coverage

    Says Congress made health care worse by cutting Medicaid and Medicare and raising premiums, and calls for restoring that funding, negotiating drug prices, and building on the Affordable Care Act.[3]

  • OpposesBroad tariffs on imported goods

    Calls for reversing what he describes as the tariffs predecessor Cory Mills voted for, saying they squeeze small businesses and raise supply-chain costs.[3]

In their words — priorities

  • Says his top priority is making Florida affordable again, addressing gas, health care, housing and insurance costs.[3]
  • Wants to make it illegal for members of Congress to trade stocks in companies they regulate.[3]
  • Wants to restore Medicaid and Medicare funding and reverse premium increases, and supports negotiating prescription drug prices.[3]

Background

  • Graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and served over 24 years in the Navy and Navy Reserve, including 13 years active duty as a helicopter pilot, deploying to Iraq, Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa and the Pacific.[3]
  • Worked for Sen. Bill Nelson helping Florida veterans access care and benefits, then returned to active duty as commanding officer of a Navy special-operations support helicopter squadron.[3]
  • Served as NASA Chief of Staff, managing 16,500 employees.[3]

Campaign money

Raised $1.4M · spent $902K · $476K cash on hand (through 2026-07-29) FEC filing ↗

Shareable profile page

Christopher Dennison

LIB

Libertarian primary was canceled; advanced unopposed.

Christopher Dennison is the Libertarian Party nominee for the open Florida 7th Congressional District seat.[4]

Little public record found for this candidate.

Campaign money

Raised $11K · spent $10K · $60 cash on hand (through 2026-06-30) FEC filing ↗

Shareable profile page

Research notes & limits

Open seat after incumbent Cory Mills lost his primary; Dalton's survey references an ongoing House Ethics Committee investigation into Mills, which is not independently verified here since Mills is not on the November ballot.

Sources · 4

Researched 2026-09-25. Green citations are official government records.

  1. 1.Florida's 7th Congressional District election, 2026 · Ballotpedia · 2026-09-25 Reference
  2. 2.Ryan Elijah - Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey · Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey · 2026-09-25 Candidate's own words
  3. 3.Bale Dalton - Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey · Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey · 2026-09-25 Candidate's own words
  4. 4.Christopher Dennison · Ballotpedia Reference