But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check

Larry Thompson

Republican · U.S. House, California District 32
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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.

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Two reviewers, reading the public record as a whole, agree: As of August 2026 his Ballotpedia page has him saying "I stand tall with Israel and Jews worldwide", without saying where he stands on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. Reviewed by hand on 2026-10-09. This candidate has no recorded tracked floor votes.

Thompson has taken no position on U.S. weapons or money to the government of Israel, or on U.S. aid to Palestinians. His issues page says: "I stand tall with Israel and Jews worldwide. Period." In a candidate survey he called Israel "a long-time ally."

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Deep Dive

Larry Thompson, a Los Angeles talent manager and entertainment lawyer running for CA-32, states a general pro-Israel position without saying what he would do about U.S. weapons or U.S. money to the government of Israel, or about U.S. aid to Palestinians. His issues page carries the line, in full: "I stand tall with Israel and Jews worldwide. Period." In an iVoterGuide candidate survey he answered that Israel is "a long-time ally of the United States - one of our few in the Middle East" and that "Islamic terrorism is a threat to the United States' national security."

In an October 2025 op-ed in The Canyon News he wrote that incumbent Rep. Brad Sherman "claims to support Israel...sometimes" and argued Sherman lacks consistent leadership. The op-ed is a campaign attack; it does not state a weapons or funding position of Thompson's own.

Campaign materials described the U.S.-Israel alliance as a "strategic cornerstone"; the only sources for that wording would not open, so it is carried as unverified on the research page.

The money

Checked the five lobbying groups we track; no direct 2026 support found

2026 support from the five lobbying groups we track
Nothing recorded (as of 2026-07-23) from the five lobbying groups we track; earlier cycles and earmarked donations not yet tracked.
Support-only OpenFEC data. Opposition independent expenditures are excluded.

Research log

The notes behind this card: what we looked at, what we found, and where each item came from.

Searched 2026-08-10 for: Thompson Israel California foreign policy military aid; Thompson CA-32 policy positions; Thompson CA-32 2026 Israel; Thompson Israel weapons/military aid CA-32; Thompson "I stand tall with Israel"). Note on the earlier record: issues page lists Israel second among positions, full text "I stand tall with Israel and all Jews worldwide. Period.", read 2026-08-03.

U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel

  • Undated, 2024-2026 campaigns [source did not open; not card-usable]: Questionnaires/platform statements described the U.S.-Israel alliance as a "strategic cornerstone" that "must be defended regardless of which party holds power." Sources: localcandidates.org (would not open), valleynewsgroup.com candidate statement (would not open). Unlinked.
  • Undated survey [Current position by election cycle; verified against source 2026-08-10]: iVoterGuide answer on Israel: "Yes. They are a long-time ally of the United States - one of our few in the Middle East." The wording in the search notes "vital, long-time ally" not in source; "vital" dropped. Survey.
  • No statement found on conditioning, cutting, or expanding U.S. weapons or money to the government of Israel, and none on U.S. aid to Palestinians. [Nothing found]

Characterization of the conflict

  • Undated issues-page line, on record as of 2026-08-03 [Current position]: "I stand tall with Israel and Jews worldwide. Period." Ballotpedia. Re-checked 2026-08-12: the wording is as above; this record previously carried it with an inserted "all", and the oregoncitys.com politics archive cited alongside Ballotpedia does NOT contain this line at all.
  • Post-2023-10-07 statement [WITHDRAWN 2026-08-12: MISATTRIBUTION, consulted and unusable]: this record previously carried Israel has "the right to go after Hamas" as Thompson's own words, sourced to a WordPress category archive. Checked again 2026-08-12: the words are Sen. Jeff Merkley's, from a separate article on the same archive page, and his sentence continues "as long as Israel plans to use American weapons in a fashion that produces high levels of civilian casualties, the U.S. should refuse to resupply those offensive weapons", which is the opposite import to the one this record gave them. A category archive carries many people's words, so citing one cannot establish whose a quotation is. NO statement by Thompson on Israel's military response is supported by any source consulted.
  • Undated survey [Current position, dated by election cycle; verified]: Designated Islamic terrorism a threat to U.S. national security. Survey.

Rhetoric and lobbying

  • 2025-10 [Current position; the month-only date comes from the text itself, source page undated]: Op-ed in The Canyon News attacking Rep. Brad Sherman: Sherman "claims to support Israel...sometimes" and lacks consistent leadership. Link is the paper's Bel-Air category archive, not the article page: The Canyon News.
  • No positions found on Israel-related lobbying groups or PACs. [Nothing found]

Safety and antisemitism (context, not a weapons or funding position)

  • 2024-2026 campaign materials [Current position, undated items]: Frames "I stand tall with Israel and all Jews worldwide. Period." as a defense of Jewish safety globally. Same sources as above.
  • No standalone antisemitism-enforcement or hate-crime proposals found; domestic platform is general public safety, "tough on crime" ([localcandidates.org, which would not open], Wikipedia bio). Out of scope for the card.

Identity sources

  • Ballotpedia and Wikipedia: LA-based talent manager, entertainment lawyer, film producer; prior runs CA-32 2024, CA-37 2020. Civoren profile (published 2026-05-21) also names him for CA-32 2026.

Also in this race

  1. ✗ Brad Sherman (Democrat)

All California candidates.

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.