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

Samantha Mota

Democrat · U.S. House, California District 37
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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 October 2026 her campaign foreign policy page lists "End Foreign Aid + total arms embargo" among the first policies she will co-sponsor, with nothing pointing the other way. Reviewed by hand on 2026-10-09. This candidate has no recorded tracked floor votes.

Knock LA's June 2026 primary guide reports that she "opposes military aid to Israel and our militarized foreign policy". Her own platform lists "End Foreign Aid + total arms embargo" among the first policies she would co-sponsor, without naming a country.

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Deep Dive

Samantha Mota, an organizer and former Santa Monica Public Safety Reform and Oversight commissioner, advanced from the June 2, 2026 primary to face incumbent Sydney Kamlager-Dove in CA-37, per Ballotpedia.

Knock LA's progressive voter guide for the June 2026 primary, published May 9, recommends her and says: "She also opposes military aid to Israel and our militarized foreign policy." Her own Foreign Policy page, paid for by her campaign, lists "End Foreign Aid + total arms embargo" and "Enforce Leahy Law and Foreign Assistance Act" among "the first policies I will co-sponsor". It does not name Israel or any other country.

An initial search also reported she signed the "Organize for Peace" pledge opposing all U.S. military aid to Israel and campaigns in opposition to AIPAC's influence; the page carrying the pledge listing does not name her on the page itself, so that item stays on the research page. No statements from her on antisemitism were found; her commission background is general public-safety work, not Jewish-community safety.

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. Democrat, CA-37 challenger. 11 source entries; localcandidates.org and kvue.com would not open; progressivecongress.net/top.html does not name her.

U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel

  • Platform, undated pages, primary-season 2026 [current position]: "ending aid to Israel" listed among her platform planks in the California DSA voter guide (undated; June 2026 primary guide). Read 2026-08-10 (the sentence covers Mota, John Parker, and Juan Rey collectively). That guide is no longer online (checked 2026-10-01), so nothing on the card rests on it.
  • 2026-05-09 [Position; guide modified 2026-05-30, read 2026-10-01]: Knock LA's progressive voter guide for the June 2026 primary, under "District 37: Samantha Mota": "She also opposes military aid to Israel and our militarized foreign policy." The entry recommends her and says of the incumbent that she "voted to continue weapons shipments to Israel, despite the use of those weapons to kill civilians in Gaza." It is the guide's description of her, not her words. The entry does not mention an immediate halt to arms transfers, a ceasefire or a genocide plank.
  • [Position, read 2026-10-01; undated live page] Her campaign's Foreign Policy page, paid for by Samantha Mota for Congress, lists under "Some of the first policies I will co-sponsor are:" the planks "End Foreign Aid + total arms embargo" and "Enforce Leahy Law and Foreign Assistance Act". The page does not name Israel, Gaza or any other country.
  • Inline August 2026 [current position; source names-candidate=false]: listed as having signed the "Organize for Peace" pledge opposing all U.S. military aid to Israel (progressivecongress.net/top.html); the page itself does not name her per the search notes, and a open of full.html truncated before California. Not card-usable.

Characterization of the conflict

  • Platform planks, inline June 2026 [current position; not confirmed]: immediate, permanent ceasefire in Gaza; ending what her platform describes as the genocide in Gaza; Palestinian freedom and self-determination. These were attributed to the Knock LA guide, whose entry for her, read 2026-10-01, carries none of them, and to progressivecongress.net, which truncated before California. Her own Foreign Policy page does not mention them either.

Rhetoric and lobbying

  • Inline June-August 2026 [current position; pending verification]: campaign positioned in opposition to AIPAC and pro-Israel lobby influence on Middle East policy; endorsements and pledges from Progressive Voters Network and Organize for Peace (progressivecongress.net, California DSA).

Safety and antisemitism

  • No statements found on antisemitism or Jewish community safety. [Nothing found]
  • Context: appointed 2021 (inline January 2021; the Santa Monica press release is dated 2021-04-30, a conflict noted) to Santa Monica's Public Safety Reform & Oversight Commission; civilian oversight and police accountability. Out of scope for the card.

Identity

Also in this race

  1. ? Sydney Kamlager-Dove (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.