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

Jimmy Patronis

Republican · U.S. House, Florida District 1
✗Supported sending weapons or funding in 2 of 2 tracked votes

Nothing located as of September 2026 has Patronis speaking about U.S. weapons or funding for the government of Israel. As Florida’s chief financial officer he invested $250 million of Florida’s treasury in bonds issued by the government of Israel and urged other states to do the same.

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Deep Dive

Jimmy Patronis has represented Florida’s 1st District, the Panhandle seat running from Pensacola to Panama City, since April 2, 2025, when he won the special election held after Matt Gaetz resigned. He was Florida’s chief financial officer from 2017 until he resigned to run for the seat, and he is on the November 3, 2026 ballot against Gay Valimont and Tyler Davis.

The largest part of his record on this question was made in Tallahassee rather than Washington, and it was made with money. Israel bonds are debt issued by the government of Israel and sold in the United States through the Development Corporation for Israel. Under his direction the Florida Treasury bought them repeatedly, and in March 2024 a further purchase brought the state’s holding to $250 million, the largest total Florida had ever held at one time. Announcing it he said, “Florida shares a unique bond with Israel, who serves as both our strongest ally and greatest advocate for peace in the Middle East.” He added, “I am encouraging all state treasurers and CFOs across the country to do their part as well and invest in Israel bonds,” and that he would “continue to stand for Israel and fight against hate and intolerance when it rears its ugly head.” Two months before he entered Congress he told Jewish Insider that his priorities would include “protecting our allies in the Middle East, like Israel,” which he called a “democratic bastion of hope” in the region, and said of the war, “I hope they continue to win and persevere.”

In Congress the record is votes rather than words. He has two recorded votes on this question, and no statement from him explaining either one was found. His congressional newsroom was read in full, all 104 press releases published since he took office, and none of them is about American weapons or money for the government of Israel. The one letter he has written to that government is about something else: on September 11, 2025 he asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to intervene after Jerusalem froze the bank accounts of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, writing that “it seems short-sighted and poor judgment that officials in Jerusalem would unilaterally pick a fight with Christians over taxes.” At a candidate forum in Okaloosa County in August 2026 an attendee asked him about a donation from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a lobbying group that works to strengthen U.S. support for the government of Israel. He answered that he does not ask particular groups for money and cannot control who supports him, and that “If it’s corrupt, I return it.” His statement on the February 2026 strikes on Iran, his cosponsorship of a resolution condemning antisemitism, and his state record before 2024 are on his research page.

If you get a direct answer from him about what the United States should send, send it to us. It goes on this page in his own words, which is worth more than anything we could write about him.

The record

Supported sending weapons or funding in 2 of 2 tracked votes · Backs 0 of 1 tracked bills to restrict weapons transfers

Floor votes
H.R. 8595 - Massie amendment (Part A No. 8) to bar FY27 funds for Israel and cut $3.3B in Foreign Military Financing2026-07-15 · Failed 104-314
✗ Voted No
voted against limiting it
H.Amdt. 55 to H.R. 4016 - strike $500M for Israeli Cooperative Programs2025-07-18 · Failed 6-422 (only 6 voted to cut)
✗ Voted No
voted against limiting it
Bill sponsorship
H.R. 3565 - Block the Bombs ActWould bar transfer of 2,000-lb/BLU-109 bunker busters, JDAMs, 120mm tank rounds, and 155mm artillery shells to Israel. Does not affect Iron
Not sponsoringhas not backed this restriction bill
H.R. 1229 - United States-Israel Defense Partnership Act of 2025Formalizes/expands bilateral defense cooperation with Israel.
Not sponsoringhas not backed this support bill
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

$15K in lifetime support from the five lobbying groups we track

Lifetime support from the five lobbying groups we track
AIPAC PAC: $15,000
Support-only OpenFEC data (as of 2026-10-03). Opposition independent expenditures are excluded.
Who these lobbying groups are
AIPAC$15,000The American Israel Public Affairs Committee; its PAC backs candidates it sees as strengthening U.S. ties with the government of Israel, including continued U.S. military aid.Direct contributions and independent expenditures supporting this candidate from the five lobbying groups we track, every cycle each has filed, through 2026. Excludes earmarked and conduit contributions.
Endorsed by AIPAC
AIPACThe American Israel Public Affairs Committee; its PAC backs candidates it sees as strengthening U.S. ties with the government of Israel, including continued U.S. military aid.These endorsements come from groups that back sending U.S. weapons and funding to the government of Israel.

In their words

“Florida shares a unique bond with Israel, who serves as both our strongest ally and greatest advocate for peace in the Middle East.”
Source ↗, 2024-03-18
“I am encouraging all state treasurers and CFOs across the country to do their part as well and invest in Israel bonds.”
Source ↗, 2024-03-18
“I totally understand and empathize how angry and passionate and just relentless the Israelis are about trying to create safety for their own people after those heinous attacks.”
Source ↗, 2024-12-27
“Frankly, with many of the challenges Israel is facing, it seems short-sighted and poor judgment that officials in Jerusalem would unilaterally pick a fight with Christians over taxes.”
Source ↗, 2025-09-11
Endorsements

AIPAC (2026 endorsement)

Research log

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

Every page named below was opened and read on 2026-09-07 unless the entry says otherwise. His congressional newsroom was read in full: eleven listing pages and all 104 press releases published between April 2025 and September 2026. Bands: Position (2024-01-26 onward), Reaction window (2023-10-07 to 2024-01-25), Earlier record (before 2023-10-07), Undated. His recorded House votes and the funding totals are shown as badges on this card and are not restated here.

U.S. military aid and weapons to the government of Israel

  • Nothing located, at any date. No statement by him about arms transfers, weapons shipments, Foreign Military Financing, security assistance, or any bill or amendment on those subjects was found in his 104 congressional press releases, on his campaign site, on his House issues pages, or in any of the news reports read for this card.
  • [Position, April 2025 to September 2026] His congressional press-release archive was read in full. Two of the 104 releases contain any of the search terms used, and neither is about what the United States sends: the September 11, 2025 statement on the FY26 National Defense Authorization Act, whose summary of the bill includes a line about barring Department of War funding to colleges that have not acted on antisemitic demonstrations, and the October 17, 2025 travel advisory quoted under safety below. His own quoted words in the NDAA release are about electric vehicles on coastal military bases.
  • [Position, read 2026-09-07] His House issues section carries five subjects: Congress, the economy, small businesses, transportation and infrastructure, and veterans. There is no foreign policy page. His In the News section carries a single item, an encyclopedia article about the 119th Congress.
  • [Position, read 2026-09-07] His campaign site has eight pages and six posts, all of which were read. It has no issues or platform page. None of the fourteen documents uses the words Israel, Gaza, Palestinian, antisemitism, Jewish, foreign aid, Middle East, Hamas or Iran.
  • [Position, 2026-08-13] A Newsmax television appearance is reported to include a remark by him about a Democratic candidate who campaigned on ending U.S. military aid to the government of Israel. The page did not open, no other account of the appearance was located, and nothing from it is written on this card. Its address is listed below.

U.S. aid to Palestinians

  • Nothing located, at any date. No statement by him on Gaza humanitarian funding, the aid pipeline or UNRWA was found.
  • [Reaction window, undated on the document itself] Chief Financial Officer Directive 2023-03, signed by him as Florida CFO, directs the state Division of Unclaimed Property “to refrain from delivering any unclaimed property assets to the region of Gaza until such time as the region is no longer controlled by the Foreign Terrorist Organization, known as ‘Hamas’”, and the same for Iran, Lebanon and Syria while they are under United States sanctions, and to “prioritize returning unclaimed property assets to the region of Israel”. The document carries no date on its face; its text refers to the October 7, 2023 attacks as recent and to attacks continuing “in the span of weeks”, and it is reported to have been issued in November 2023. It concerns Florida’s unclaimed property, not United States aid. Recorded here with its band; not on the card.

Characterization of the conflict

  • [Position, 2024-03-18 and 2024-03-19] The March 2024 Israel bonds purchase. His own announcement, republished by Israel Bonds, the American sales organization for debt issued by the government of Israel, is dated March 18, 2024 and reads in part: “Florida shares a unique bond with Israel, who serves as both our strongest ally and greatest advocate for peace in the Middle East. Florida and Israel already have deep economic and personal ties, but today we are increasing those ties again by purchasing an additional $55 million in Israel bonds by the State Treasury. This brings Florida’s current total investment in Israel bonds to $250 million. Israel bonds have already proved to be of great value to our state, offering a consistent and positive return on investment. I am encouraging all state treasurers and CFOs across the country to do their part as well and invest in Israel bonds. Florida continues to stand with Israel, and as long as I’m in Tallahassee, I will continue to stand for Israel and fight against hate and intolerance when it rears its ugly head.” The same release says that after the October 7, 2023 attacks the Treasury invested $25 million, bringing the total then to $200 million, and that under his direction since 2017 the state has now purchased $250 million. The Capitolist, WMNF, San Diego Jewish World and Florida Politics all report the additional purchase as $50 million, announced on Tuesday March 19, 2024; all four agree the resulting total is $250 million. The $250 million total is the figure used on this card; the size of the single March purchase is left as the two sets of accounts have it.
  • [Position, 2024-10-07] On the first anniversary of the October 7 attacks he posted to X, as the Florida Phoenix reported: “Today marks one year since the heinous terrorist attacks on Israel by Iran-backed Hamas. We remember the lives lost and pray for the communities impacted by ongoing violence.” The post itself was not read; the report of it was.
  • [Position, 2024-12-27] Jewish Insider’s interview with him during the special election campaign. The outlet reports that his top priorities include “protecting our allies in the Middle East, like Israel,” which he called a “democratic bastion of hope” in the region; that he said Joe Biden’s approach to the Middle East had created “instability”; and that he pledged to “stand shoulder to shoulder” with Israel. He is quoted: “I totally understand and empathize how angry and passionate and just relentless the Israelis are about trying to create safety for their own people after those heinous attacks. I hope they continue to win and persevere.” The same interview reports that he confirmed he would have voted for the Antisemitism Awareness Act, a campus-discrimination bill his predecessor opposed, and quotes him on boycott campaigns: “When they start to boycott and target Israel, I’m not going to stand for it. The state of Florida has been steadfast with the nation of Israel. I look forward to carrying that same type of leadership when I get to Washington.” The reporter’s sentences separate those spans; they are recorded here as printed and are not rejoined.
  • [Position, 2025-09-11, published 2025-09-14] His letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, printed in full by The National Herald, about Jerusalem freezing the bank accounts of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate over a tax dispute. He writes: “Frankly, with many of the challenges Israel is facing, it seems short-sighted and poor judgment that officials in Jerusalem would unilaterally pick a fight with Christians over taxes. No doubt, with the ongoing war effort, resources are becoming more and more strained, but this isn’t the way to go about it.” And: “I am thankful for your partnership with both Florida and the United States over many years, and I have no doubt that through God’s hand, you can help fully resolve this issue for both faiths.” The outlet describes him as Greek-American and says he shared the letter with it.
  • [Position, 2026-02-28] The Washington Reporter’s account of his statement on the American and Israeli strikes on Iran, which says he praised the president and the secretary of state “for their work eliminating sites across Iran in conjunction with Israel”. He is quoted: “The United States demonstrated unmistakable strength with decisive military action against Iran. For decades, the Iranian regime has been an adversary of America while oppressing its own people. Under the leadership of [Trump, Rubio, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth] the message is clear. America will defend its interests, its allies, and global stability. This is peace through strength in action.” The bracketed names are the outlet’s insertion. The subject is Iran, which is not what this site asks about, so this is recorded here rather than on the card. The name “Operation Epic Fury” does not appear on the page.
  • [Reaction window, 2023-10-11] The $25 million Israel bonds purchase announced after the October 7 attacks, described in his March 2024 release above. Recorded here with its date.
  • [Reaction window, 2023-10-16] He is reported to have said that Florida “unequivocally stands with Israel following the heinous Iran-backed terrorist attacks”. The Israel Hayom article offered for it, about Israel Bonds fundraising after October 7, did not open, so the wording is not confirmed here. In-window in any case.
  • [Reaction window, 2023-10-26] He and Governor Ron DeSantis are reported to have placed the ratings firm Morningstar on Florida’s List of Scrutinized Companies that Boycott Israel, with a statement about boycott practices. The Florida Politics report of it did not open. In-window in any case.
  • [Reaction window, 2023-12-18, reported 2023-12-26] The Bond Buyer’s report that he received the Israel Bonds Leadership Award at a gala in Boca Raton on December 18, 2023, with two quoted statements from him about Florida assisting Israel “morally and monetarily” and about Israel bonds as a prudent investment. Recorded here with its date.

Related rhetoric and lobbying

  • [Position, 2026-08-12] Mid Bay News fact-checked what each candidate said at a Meet the Candidates forum held by the Okaloosa Democrats and the Poquito Bayou Community Association in Niceville the previous Thursday, days before the August 18 primary. An attendee asked Patronis about a donation from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a lobbying group that works to strengthen U.S. support for the government of Israel. The outlet quotes him: “Somebody wants to give me money? Good for them. I appreciate it. If it’s corrupt, I return it.” And: “We will vet the dollars that we get.” It reports that he said he does not ask specific action groups for donations and cannot control what entities support him, but will return any donation he deems corrupt, and it records that his campaign finance data showed no refund to that committee as of the date of publication. No dollar figure is reproduced here.
  • [Earlier record, 2023-04-17] JNS reports that as CFO he wrote to Norway’s consul general in New York objecting to reports that Norway’s sovereign wealth fund was considering excluding Israel. He is quoted: “We have taken a series of steps over the past years whenever we have seen anti-Israel, BDS stuff taking place. So we have a familiarity when people pick fights with our friends in Israel.” And: “I think it’s unfortunate and short-sighted that the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund is making this type of a position or change in their investment strategy. I think it’s important to call them out.” And, from the letter: “A divestment from Israeli banks, of this scale, may have devastating effects on the entire Israeli economy and stability within the Middle East.”
  • [Earlier record, August 2022] Ballotpedia records that he was one of eighteen members of the State Financial Officers Foundation, an association of elected state treasurers and comptrollers, who signed a letter to the investment ratings firm Morningstar about its subsidiary’s ratings of firms connected to Israel. The wording is the eighteen signers’ collective wording, not his alone.
  • [Earlier record, 2018 and 2019] The Florida CFO news archive records two earlier increases in the state’s Israel bonds holding, of $10 million each, taking it to $50 million in 2018 and further in 2019.
  • Neither he nor his opponents has completed Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection survey for this race.

Safety and antisemitism (context, not an answer to what America sends)

  • [Position, 2025-05-23] He is listed as an original cosponsor of a resolution led by Rep. Addison McDowell condemning antisemitism and honoring Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, two Israeli Embassy employees killed in Washington. “Jimmy Patronis (FL)” appears in the published list. He is not quoted in the release.
  • [Position, 2025-10-17] In a travel advisory issued during the government shutdown, warning Floridians away from planned demonstrations in Washington, he said: “These anti-American demonstrations are being driven by extremist that spread hate, promote anti-Israel rhetoric, and thrive on disorder.” The release’s own text says the protests “could harbor potential pro-Hamas and Antifa elements”. The grammatical error in the quoted sentence is the release’s own.
  • [Position, 2024-12-27] In the Jewish Insider interview he said he has “zero tolerance” for antisemitism and hate crimes: “I think freedom of speech is an amazing thing, but when you are doing things that incite violence, then I’ve got no use for you anymore.”
  • [Earlier record, 2021-05-26] A proclamation he signed as CFO recording a rise in antisemitic incidents in the United States and stating that the office “does hereby strongly support ISRAEL and FLORIDA’S JEWISH COMMUNITY and encourage all Floridians to denounce all forms of anti-Semitism.” It is dated the 26th day of May 2021.
  • [Earlier record, 2019-05-29] The Florida Cabinet meeting held in Jerusalem during a four-day trade mission. The Associated Press and WUSF both report that the Governor and the three independently elected Cabinet members, Patronis among them, presented a proclamation of support for Israel, and that Governor DeSantis signed a bill prohibiting antisemitism in Florida public schools and universities. Neither report quotes Patronis on the subject; the AP records that he was asked to say the prayer when the video link failed.

The race

  • [Undated; read 2026-09-07] Ballotpedia’s page for him records that he assumed office on April 2, 2025 after the April 1, 2025 special election, that he advanced from the Republican primary on August 18, 2026, and that he, Gay Valimont and Tyler Davis are on the ballot in the general election on November 3, 2026. He was Florida’s chief financial officer from 2017 to 2025 and a state representative before that.

Not on the card, and why

  • The October and December 2023 Israel bonds purchases and the leadership award, the unclaimed-property directive, the October 2023 Morningstar listing and the October 2023 “unequivocally stands with Israel” remark: all fall in the weeks this site records here rather than on cards. Each is set out above with its date.
  • The February 2026 statement on the strikes on Iran: Iran is not the question this site asks about. It is recorded above in his own words.
  • The 2019 Jerusalem Cabinet meeting, the 2021 proclamation, the 2022 ratings-firm letter and the 2023 Norway letter: earlier record, and the first and third are collective actions whose wording belongs to all their signers.
  • The Newsmax appearance: the page could not be opened and no other account of it was located, so nothing from it is written.
  • The antisemitism resolution, the travel advisory and the NDAA provision on campus demonstrations: context. None of them answers what the United States sends.
  • Gay Valimont’s and Tyler Davis’s positions: they belong on their own cards.
  • The other seventeen signers of the 2022 ratings-firm letter and the other cosponsors of the 2025 resolution: their own records, not his.

Sources retrieved for this card (address; opened or could not open; date)

  • https://patronis.house.gov/media/press-releases (opened; eleven listing pages and all 104 releases; 2026-09-07)
  • https://patronis.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-patronis-ndaa-passage-ensures-stronger-safer-us-military (opened; 2026-09-07; published 2025-09-11)
  • https://patronis.house.gov/media/press-releases/day-17-schumer-shutdown-travel-advisory-beware-of-hate-america-parade-in-washington-dc (opened; 2026-09-07; published 2025-10-17)
  • https://patronis.house.gov/issues and https://patronis.house.gov/media/in-the-news (opened; 2026-09-07)
  • https://joinjimmy.com/ and all eight pages and six posts on it (opened; 2026-09-07)
  • https://israelbonds.com/press-release/cfo-jimmy-patronis-florida-treasury-to-purchase-additional-55-million-in-israel-bonds/ (opened; 2026-09-07; dated 2024-03-18)
  • https://thecapitolist.com/florida-treasury-invests-another-50m-in-israel-bonds/ (opened; 2026-09-07; published 2024-03-19)
  • https://www.wmnf.org/florida-buys-50-million-more-israel-bonds/ (opened; 2026-09-07; published 2024-03-19)
  • https://www.sdjewishworld.com/2024/03/20/state-of-florida-adds-50-million-to-israel-bonds/ (opened; 2026-09-07)
  • https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/floridas-leaders-reiterate-support-israel-one-year-after-hamas-attack (opened; 2026-09-07; published 2024-10-07)
  • https://midbaynews.com/post/birth-tourism-health-insurance-and-va-centers-we-fact-check-fl-1-house-candidates (opened; 2026-09-07; published 2026-08-12)
  • https://jewishinsider.com/2024/12/jimmy-patronis-emerges-as-favorite-to-succeed-matt-gaetz-in-congress/ (opened; 2026-09-07; published 2024-12-27)
  • https://www.thenationalherald.com/rep-jimmy-patronis-sends-letter-to-netanyahu-concerning-christians-in-israel/ (opened; 2026-09-07; published 2025-09-14; letter dated 2025-09-11)
  • https://washingtonreporter.news/scoop-rep-jimmy-patronis-back-trumps-peace-through-strength-in-action-in-iran/ (opened; 2026-09-07; published 2026-02-28)
  • https://mcdowell.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-addison-mcdowell-leads-resolution-honoring-israeli-embassy-victims (opened; 2026-09-07; published 2025-05-23)
  • https://www.bondbuyer.com/news/florida-cfo-patronis-honored-by-israel-bonds (opened; 2026-09-07; published 2023-12-26)
  • https://www.jns.org/antisemitism/florida-cfo-tells-norway-it-would-be-a-mistake-to-divest-from-israel (opened; 2026-09-07; published 2023-04-17)
  • https://myfloridacfo.com/docs-sf/cfo-news-libraries/news-documents/2023/chief-financial-officer-directive-2023-03.pdf?sfvrsn=984b3fc2_1 (opened; 2026-09-07)
  • https://www.myfloridacfo.com/docs-sf/cfo-news-libraries/news-documents/2021/cfo-proclamation.pdf?sfvrsn=cafd3d4e_5 (opened; 2026-09-07)
  • https://apnews.com/article/7ad57c4db0104caba15453d88ae59c41 (opened; 2026-09-07; published 2019-05-29)
  • https://www.wusf.org/politics/2019-05-29/florida-cabinet-meets-in-israel-despite-illegality-complaint (opened; 2026-09-07; published 2019-05-29)
  • https://ballotpedia.org/Jimmy_Patronis (opened; 2026-09-07)
  • https://myfloridacfo.com/news/patronis-archives/patronis-press-releases (opened; 2026-09-07; the state archive of his releases as chief financial officer)
  • https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/jimmy-patronis-florida-gop/2026/08/13/id/1266011/ (could not open; 2026-09-07)
  • https://floridapolitics.com/archives/665709-jimmy-patronis-florida-buys-50m-more-israel-bonds/ (could not open; 2026-09-07)
  • https://floridapolitics.com/archives/641529-last-call-for-10-26-23-a-prime-time-read-of-whats-going-down-in-florida-politics/ (could not open; 2026-09-07)
  • https://www.israelhayom.com/2023/10/16/200m-raised-by-israel-bonds-in-wake-of-oct-7-attack/ (could not open; 2026-09-07)
  • https://sfofexposed.org/jimmy-patronis/ (could not open; 2026-09-07)
  • https://myfloridacfo.com/news/pressreleases/press-release-details/2024/03/19/cfo-jimmy-patronis--florida-treasury-purchases-additional--50-million-in-israel-bonds (could not open; 2026-09-07; his own March 2024 release, no longer on the state site)
  • His campaign and official social accounts, which were not read for this card: https://x.com/JimmyPatronis, https://x.com/PatronisFL, https://www.facebook.com/jimmypatronis, https://www.instagram.com/jpatronis, https://www.youtube.com/@jimmypatronisforcongress
  • This is a record of what was checked on 2026-09-07, not a claim that no other statement exists.

Also in this race

  1. ✓ Gay Valimont (Democrat)
  2. – Tyler L. Davis (Other)

All Florida 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.