Bale Dalton
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 ↗