But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Shomari C. Figures
Figures backs security assistance: “Israel is an ally. It always has been, and always will be. The United States has to be there for its allies”. He signed letters pressing for humanitarian aid delivery to Gaza and for U.S. leadership on aid to Palestinian civilians.
✉ Copy a message to send them
We don’t have a campaign email on file yet. Copy this message and send it through their website or a public social account.
If you send this from your own email, cc replies@butwhatcanyoudo.org so we can post their answer.
Deep Dive
Figures represents Alabama’s 2nd District, won in the 2026 special cycle, and is the Democratic nominee for the seat.
His transfers position predates his service and has held: in February 2024 he told Jewish Insider that he had worked on security assistance packages to Israel as a Senate staffer and supported the pending supplemental: “Israel is an ally. It always has been, and always will be. The United States has to be there for its allies, just as we expect our allies to be there for us,” adding that “Israel’s security is paramount to the United States’ security… because we have mutual threats.” In the same interview he said Israel has the “right to defend itself and mitigate the threat” and that he wanted “to get to a place where the violence comes to an end”.
In office his signatures run to the other dimension. In May 2025 he co-signed a letter to Israel’s ambassador on Gaza aid delivery stating that “Israeli and Palestinian people all deserve to live without fear and have access to the basic necessities” and that “Hamas cannot be allowed to remain in control of the Gaza Strip.” In November 2025 he joined 125 House Democrats urging the Secretary of State to ensure the flow of food, water, medicine and housing supplies to Palestinian civilians. Both are multi-signer letters, and their wording belongs to their signers collectively.
His two recorded tracked votes, both against amendments cutting aid, appear as badges on this card.
The record
Supported sending weapons or funding in 2 of 2 tracked votes · Backs 0 of 1 tracked bills to restrict weapons transfers
How this mark works
We track key votes on sending U.S. weapons and money to the government of Israel. A check means every tracked vote they cast came down against sending more, on the side of peace and de-escalation. A question mark means a mixed record: they sided with sending up to half of the time. An X means they voted to send more weapons and money in over half of their tracked votes, even as the way those weapons and dollars were being used became more and more obvious. At exactly half, money this election cycle from a lobbying group we track, or an endorsement from a group that backs sending weapons, makes it an X. Only votes actually cast are counted. Where a candidate has no recorded votes on these bills, the mark comes instead from a reviewed reading of their public record (money from the lobbying groups we track, endorsements, and their own words since January 26, 2024). There an X also covers fully backing the conduct of the war by the government of Israel without significant reservations, and a question mark also covers speaking about Israel without saying clearly where they stand on U.S. weapons and funding. A dash means No Position Found: we found nothing in their own words about Israel, Gaza or the war.
See a dash? Ask the candidate where they stand, then send us their answer and we'll review it and update the mark. Or volunteer to help review candidates.
Voted to send weapons or funding in more than half of their recorded tracked votes. (Supported sending weapons or funding in 2 of 2 tracked votes.)
The money
$7K in lifetime support from the five lobbying groups we track
In their words
Research log
The notes behind this card: what we looked at, what we found, and where each item came from.
U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel
- His two recorded tracked votes appear as badges on this card; he took office in the 2026 special cycle, so the 2023-24 bills predate his service.
- [Position, 2024-02-27] Jewish Insider’s interview, quoted on the card. Opened and confirmed word for word, including the staffer-experience framing and the mutual-threats sentence.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
- [Position, 2025-05-08] The Williams-led letter to Ambassador Leiter, with the letter itself as a PDF. Multi-signer; quoted as the letter’s words.
- [Position, 2025-11-07] The Amo-led letter of 125 Democrats, with the letter PDF. Multi-signer.
Characterization of the conflict
- [Position, 2024-02-27] From the Jewish Insider interview: the right-to-defend and end-to-violence passages quoted in the deep dive.
- [Position, 2024-04-15, a non-event] A local outlet reported that he did not immediately respond to inquiries after Iran’s April 2024 attack; a fact about press logistics, not a position, and one we could not corroborate.
Related rhetoric and lobbying
- [Position, 2024-02-27] The alliance framing in the interview above. Tracked funding totals appear as a badge on this card.
Safety and antisemitism (context)
- [Position, 2025-05-02] Signed the bipartisan request for Nonprofit Security Grant Program funding protecting religious communities, which names antisemitic violence among the threats.
- [Position, 2025-06-05] Co-sponsored House Resolution 481 condemning ideologically motivated attacks on Jewish individuals, per the official record and BillTrack50.
Race and status context
- Sitting member and the Democratic nominee; his AL-02 status carries the same certification date as the rest of this district’s mints (the party certifies 2026-08-24). His Republican opponent’s card carries its own record.
Also in this race
- ✗Supports Rhett Marques (Republican)
All Alabama candidates.
See everyone on the Alabama ballot →But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. Every claim on this page goes through at least two verification steps. Open Find Your Candidates for votes, funding and contact details.