Bale Dalton is the Democratic nominee for Florida's 7th Congressional District. He won the August 18, 2026 Democratic primary and will face Republican Ryan Elijah in the November 3 general election, after Elijah defeated the district's two-term Republican incumbent in the GOP primary. A retired U.S. Navy captain and former chief of staff at NASA, Dalton is campaigning on affordability and government accountability.

Dalton grew up in Orlando, one of four children in a Central Florida family; his father, Roy Bale Dalton Jr., is a senior U.S. District Court judge. He graduated from Edgewater High School before attending the U.S. Naval Academy, where he earned a bachelor's degree in ocean engineering. He went on to earn a Master of Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and an MBA from the Wharton School.

Over 23 years in the Navy and Navy Reserve, Dalton flew helicopters on medical evacuation, hurricane relief, and special operations support missions across Iraq, Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa, and the Pacific. He went on to serve as NASA's chief of staff, managing an agency of roughly 16,500 employees, before launching his campaign. He has been endorsed by former U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, VoteVets, and New Politics, and led the FL-07 Democratic field in fundraising.