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

Houston Brignano

Republican · U.S. House, California District 36
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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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No recorded votes on the bills we track. We found nothing in their own words about Israel, Gaza or the war.

Has not spoken publicly on U.S. military aid to Israel or aid to Palestinians. He left candidate-survey questions on the U.S.-Israel relationship unanswered and did not respond to local-press questions on foreign policy in May 2026.

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Deep Dive

We found no public record from Houston Brignano on any of this site's four questions: U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel, characterization of the Israel/Palestine conflict, Israel-related rhetoric and lobbying, or safety and antisemitism. In candidate questionnaires for the 2025-2026 cycle he left unanswered the questions on U.S. foreign-policy interventionism and whether the U.S. relationship with Israel is important. When the Daily Bruin profiled the CA-36 candidates in May 2026, he did not respond to requests for comment on foreign policy.

Brignano is a Marine Corps veteran and technology executive; he advanced from the June 2026 primary against incumbent Rep. Ted Lieu, per the Daily Bruin. His platform centers on domestic issues such as AI job training, housing affordability, and fiscal transparency, per Random Lengths News.

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: "Houston Brignano" foreign policy; Houston Brignano CA 36; "Houston Brignano" "Israel"). Republican nominee, CA-36; Marine Corps veteran and technology executive; advanced from June 2026 primary against Rep. Ted Lieu (Daily Bruin 2026-06-09).

U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel

  • Nothing found. [Nothing found]
  • 2025-2026 questionnaires [current position]: left unanswered the iVoterGuide questions on U.S. foreign-policy interventionism and whether the U.S. relationship with Israel is important (also reported by Random Lengths News 2026-05-14).

Characterization of the conflict

Rhetoric and lobbying

  • 2026-05 (May 2026, anchored to Daily Bruin candidate profile published 2026-05-28) [current position]: did not respond to local-press requests for comment on foreign policy and lobbying. Otherwise nothing found. [Nothing found]

Safety and antisemitism

  • Nothing found. [Nothing found]

Source notes

Also in this race

  1. ✗ Ted Lieu (Democrat)

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.