Republican Ryan Elijah finished the county counts in the 7th Congressional District ahead of Democrat Bale Dalton by 1,631 votes Thursday night, after Seminole and Volusia counties tallied their last mail and provisional ballots. The final unofficial margin sits just outside the gap that would force an automatic machine recount under Florida law.
*Figures as of Thursday night, Nov. 5, from the Seminole County Supervisor of Elections (updated 7:09 p.m.) and Volusia County's first unofficial results (posted about 6 p.m.). All results are unofficial until certified.*
The final county counts
Combining the two counties, Elijah has 161,300 votes, Dalton 159,669 and Libertarian Christopher Dennison 3,485, out of 324,454 cast in the race. The Associated Press tally reported by WESH matches those totals, putting Elijah at 49.7% and Dalton at 49.2%.
- Seminole County: Dalton 105,810, Elijah 87,089, Dennison 1,954. Thursday's work added 101 votes for Dalton, 43 for Elijah and 2 for Dennison, according to WESH.
- Volusia County (the district's portion): Elijah 74,211, Dalton 53,859, Dennison 1,531. That county's review of provisional, cured and overseas ballots produced about 100 new votes in the race, WESH reported. Volusia's results page labels the figures its first unofficial results, including provisional ballots.
Seminole started Thursday with 102 provisional ballots and close to 200 mail ballots that needed a signature cure, and voters faced a 5 p.m. deadline to return affidavits, WESH reported. Seminole's results page still listed mail ballots as partially reported in its last update.
The Florida Division of Elections' statewide results page still showed Wednesday's figures, with Elijah ahead by 1,701, when checked late Thursday.
No news organization had called the race as of late Thursday. NBC News, using AP data, estimated about 800 votes remained districtwide at its 9:27 p.m. Eastern update and said Dalton would need all of them to overtake Elijah.
How close to a recount
Section 102.141 of the Florida Statutes calls for a machine recount when a candidate loses by "one-half of a percent or less of the votes cast" for the office. For a multicounty federal race, the Secretary of State orders it, and a trailing candidate can ask in writing that none be held.
With 324,454 votes cast, half a percent comes to roughly 1,622 votes. Elijah's 1,631-vote lead is about nine votes beyond that line, a margin of about 0.503%. Any further change before the counties file their returns could move the race inside the threshold.
WESH reported that the Secretary of State decides whether a recount goes forward and that no decision would come Thursday. County canvassing boards must submit first unofficial returns to the state by noon Saturday, Nov. 7. Volusia's schedule reserves Nov. 7 through Nov. 12 for any recount and sets a Nov. 13 session to canvass overseas absentee ballots.
"At the end of the process, we will upload the unofficial results to the state, and we will know a little bit better if we will head into a recount for this race," Seminole Supervisor of Elections Amy Pennock told WESH.
Elijah worked as a broadcaster, and Dalton served as NASA's chief of staff. Both campaigns had observers watching the canvass, along with staff from the U.S. House leadership, WESH reported.
Amendment 3
Florida voters approved Amendment 3, the property tax measure, according to the AP as reported by WFTV. The state's unofficial results show 4,917,796 votes in favor, or 61.98%, clearing the 60% needed. Amendment 1 (40.9%) and Amendment 2 (58.21%) fell short.
Seminole voters backed it narrowly, 94,567 to 94,279, a gap of 288 votes in the county's latest update.
The measure raises the homestead exemption for non-school property taxes to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, with inflation adjustments starting in 2029, and lowers the yearly cap on assessment increases for non-homestead property to 5% from 10%, WFTV reported. It takes effect Jan. 1, 2027, and the Seminole County Property Appraiser's Office has said the change will first appear on November 2027 tax bills.
Sources
- https://www.wesh.com/article/central-florida-house-race-recount-watch/74350858
- https://enr.electionsfl.org/SEM/4119/Summary/
- https://app.enhancedvoting.com/results/public/volusia-county-fl/elections/2026GeneralElection
- https://www.volusiaelections.gov/elections/election-results/november-3-2026-general-election.stml
- https://floridaelectionwatch.gov/FederalOffices/USRepresentative
- https://floridaelectionwatch.gov/Amendments
- https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-elections/florida-us-house-district-7-results
- http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0100-0199/0102/Sections/0102.141.html
- https://www.wftv.com/news/local/florida-midterm-elections-amendment-3-passes-expanding-property-tax-exemptions/FIGUROAHDRC5PHKJJZL4VNXZXE/
