But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Manny Rutinel
Democrat · U.S. House, Colorado District 8
✗Supports
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.
Two reviewers, reading the public record as a whole, agree: His campaign says he supports security assistance under the 2016 agreement, The Colorado Sun independently reports he supports continued military funding, and his own answer to that question sets no limit. Reviewed by hand on 2026-10-01. This candidate has no recorded tracked floor votes.
Rutinel supports continued U.S. military funding for Israel; asked whether conditions should attach, he answered in terms of "pursuing peace", "stability and de-escalation", and "secure borders and a two-state solution". A former supporter’s public break over that stance is on the research page.
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Rutinel is the Democratic nominee in Colorado’s 8th District, a state representative and attorney challenging the sitting member.
Asked directly by The Colorado Sun’s primary guide in May 2026 whether he supports continued U.S. military funding for Israel and whether conditions should attach, he answered yes, in the words quoted on this card: peace, stability, de-escalation, secure borders and a two-state solution. In March 2026 a campaign spokesperson told Jewish Insider he "supports U.S. security assistance to Israel in line with the Obama administration’s 2016 memorandum of understanding".
His history has been contested from both sides. A 2014 campus demonstration he attended as a 19-year-old student was co-organized by Students for Justice in Palestine, as local reporting recorded; his campaign told Jewish Insider he "has never affiliated with" the group. In June 2026 a former supporter published a personal essay titled "Manny Rutinel Once Called Israel’s Actions a Genocide. Now He’s Okay Funding It.", recounting private conversations; it is a critical personal account resting on the author’s recollection, carried on the research page as that and nothing more.
Nothing located has him addressing U.S. humanitarian aid for Palestinians as a funding question. Ask Rutinel directly and send us the reply: it goes on this page in his own words.
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.
In their words
“I think that we need to make sure that we’re pursuing peace and allowing the U.S. to play a role in that, so that we promote stability and de-escalation, and I think we need secure borders and a two-state solution.”
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
[Position, 2026-05-28] The Colorado Sun primary guide, verified: the full answer quoted on the card, given under the guide’s printed question on continued military funding and conditions. His primary opponent’s answer appears on the same page, which is also among our sources.
[Position, 2026-03-11 and 2026-05-28] Two independent outlets report the same position. Jewish Insider (2026-03-11): asked about conditioning aid, a campaign spokesperson said Rutinel "supports U.S. security assistance to Israel in line with the Obama administration’s 2016 memorandum of understanding"; the same spokesperson said "Manny supports Israel’s right to exist and supports a two-state solution with secure borders to bring peace." The Colorado Sun (2026-05-28), in its own words: "Yes, Rutinel said he supports continued U.S. military funding for Israel." The first is his campaign's statement, not his voice; the second is the newspaper's summary, followed by his quoted answer on peace, stability and a two-state solution.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
Nothing located as a funding question.
Characterization of the conflict
[Contested history, 2026-06-04] The former supporter’s essay alleging he privately called Israel’s actions a genocide before running; retrieved and read. It is a personal account by an activist author resting on recollection of private conversations, with no primary source of the alleged statement. Recorded as the author’s account; not adopted; his verified public words are on the card.
[History, 2014-09-10] The campus demonstration report: a police-brutality and Palestine event co-organized by Students for Justice in Palestine, attended when he was 19; his campaign’s 2026 clarification that he has never affiliated with the group is carried with it.
Related rhetoric and lobbying
[Committee framing, 2026] DMFI’s swing-district piece; the committee’s own framing of the race, not adopted. No tracked funding badge appears because no committee support is recorded for him.
Two posts on his own campaign account (a family saying; a prayer post) have addresses too long to retrieve reliably that do not open; neither is load-bearing.
Safety and antisemitism (context)
[Position, 2026-01] He appears in state-legislative condemnations of antisemitic incidents via the General Assembly Democrats’ joint release and local coverage of rising anger at public events; joint statements, carried as such.
Race and status context
Democratic nominee facing the sitting member, whose card carries its own record. His state-house votes are outside what this site tracks; there are no recorded federal votes on this card.
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.
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