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

Branden Scrivener

Other · U.S. House, Florida District 12
✓From their own words
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.

No recorded votes on the bills we track. In their own words on April 27, 2026.

In the platform he posted with his campaign videos in April and May 2026, Scrivener says he is against “Taxpayer money used to fund Israel’s military objectives.” Nothing located has him naming a bill, a sum or a condition, or saying what the United States should send Palestinians.

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Deep Dive

Branden Scrivener is running in Florida's 12th District with no party affiliation. The district covers parts of Pasco and Hillsborough counties, and it is the seat Representative Gus Bilirakis holds. Scrivener is 27 and a father of two, and his campaign is based in Land O' Lakes. He has a bachelor's degree in human services and has worked in healthcare for more than three years, securing insurance authorizations for patients. He has not held office. On November 3 he faces Bilirakis, the Republican, and Kimberly Overman, the Democratic nominee.

His position is one line, repeated. Between April 27 and May 7, 2026 he posted the same platform in the descriptions of fourteen videos on his campaign's YouTube channel, among them a short on public education published on April 27. After his planks on government reform, public education and quality of life, it reads “I am against:” and lists first “Taxpayer money used to fund Israel’s military objectives.” The items after it are corporate welfare and bailouts, monopolies, overdevelopment, closed primaries and unlimited terms in office.

The rest of what he has published on money spent abroad names no country. In the description of another April 27 video on public education, on how he would pay for public education, he writes: “Step 1 is to stop funding war crimes and reduce spending in other countries.” A video he posted on April 21 says: “We need to rebalance the budget to work for American and not supporting war crimes.” And one posted on April 24 says that one way for the country to focus on itself “is to cut foreign aid and spend those billions on policies and programs designed to strengthen the working class.” None of the three says whose war crimes he means or which aid he would cut.

His campaign site and his Ballotpedia questionnaire do not mention Israel, Gaza or foreign aid; the site's plank on quality of life says the interest of working class Americans must come before that of foreign nations or corporate capital. A post on his campaign's Facebook page about fully funding Title I and special education may say more, but only its opening lines could be read, so nothing from the rest of it is claimed here. Nothing located from him addresses U.S. aid to Palestinians, how he describes the war in Gaza, or pro-Israel lobbying. The post's address, and two videos tagged #israel whose spoken words could not be checked, are on his 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 2026-09-27) 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

“Taxpayer money used to fund Israel’s military objectives.”
Source ↗, 2026-04-27

Research log

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

Our research for this card began with a search run on 2026-09-07, and every page below was opened and read on 2026-09-25. His campaign site was read in full, along with his Ballotpedia page and questionnaire, the written descriptions of all 54 videos on his campaign's YouTube channel, the reports on the race by WUSF and the Hernando Sun, and the Florida Division of Elections candidate list. The videos themselves were not watched. He has held no office, so there are no recorded votes on this record, and no tracked funding. Bands: Position (2024-01-26 onward), Reaction window (2023-10-07 to 2024-01-25), Earlier record (before 2023-10-07), Undated. Nothing located falls in the reaction window or earlier; his channel's earliest video is dated 2026-02-27.

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

  • [Position, 2026-04-27 to 2026-05-07] The platform text in the descriptions of fourteen videos on his campaign's YouTube channel, headed “What do I stand for?”, sets out planks on government reform, public education and quality of life, then “I am against:” followed by six items, the first of which is “Taxpayer money used to fund Israel’s military objectives.” The others are “Corporate welfare and government corporate bailouts”, “Monopolies”, “Overdevelopment”, “Closed primaries” and “Unlimited term limits”. The earliest description carrying it is the video “More in common”, published 2026-04-27; the short our research cited was published later the same day; the last was published 2026-05-07. The text is written in the description, and whether he says it aloud in any of the videos was not checked.
  • Nothing located from him about any specific bill, amendment, arms sale or dollar figure, the memorandum of understanding or Foreign Military Financing by name, or any condition on aid, at any date.

U.S. aid to Palestinians

  • Nothing located, at any date. The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, humanitarian aid for Gaza and the aid pipeline appear nowhere in his campaign site, his Ballotpedia answers or his video descriptions.

Characterization of the conflict

Israel-related rhetoric and lobbying

  • Nothing located about the American Israel Public Affairs Committee or any other lobby on this subject. His platform says workers' rights, not “a corporate or foreign interest”, should be the focus of policy, and his site says “The interest of working class Americans must be prioritized over those of foreign nations or corporate capital.” Neither names a country or an organization.
  • [Position, 2026-04-29] His video “What people in Hernando County actually think” carries the tags #israel, #war, #antiwar, #aipac and #foreignpolicy in its description, and his video “Focus on reform. Put the culture war in the backseat.”, published 2026-05-12, carries #israel. The videos were not watched and no captions could be retrieved, so nothing is claimed about what is said in them.

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

  • Nothing located from him, at any date.

What the campaign site and own pages say

  • [Position; the page is undated and was read 2026-09-25] His campaign site has a biography and four headings: Government Reform (term limits, a larger House, campaign finance, open primaries), public education, Quality of Life, and Data Privacy & Development. Under Quality of Life: “The interest of working class Americans must be prioritized over those of foreign nations or corporate capital.” Israel, Gaza and foreign aid do not appear.
  • [Position, 2026; the questionnaire was on his Ballotpedia page by 2026-05-22] His Ballotpedia Candidate Connection answers give government reform, the Department of Education and working-class quality of life as his three messages, and list the areas he is passionate about as “Government reform, Public Education, and Working class quality of life.” Nothing in them concerns foreign policy. Because the form gave him open questions and he answered them at length on other subjects, this is a fact about his answers and not about the form.
  • [Position; our research dated the post 2026-08-25, and the date could not be checked] A post on his campaign's Facebook page, which opens as a video post under the page name Citizens for Branden Scrivener. Only its opening lines could be read: “Title 1 and IDEA both need to be fully funded to support student needs. Public Education and Education equity is important and should be prioritized rather than be dismantled.” Our research reported that the post goes on to propose paying for those programs by cutting spending on Israel and corporate bailouts and by closing tax loopholes. That part of the post could not be read, so it is described here and not quoted, and nothing on the card rests on it.

The race

  • [Undated; read 2026-09-25] Ballotpedia: “Incumbent Gus M. Bilirakis (R), Kimberly Overman (D), and Branden Scrivener (No Party Affiliation) are running in the general election for U.S. House Florida District 12 on November 3, 2026.” Overman won the Democratic primary on August 18, 2026 with 52.7 percent; the Republican primary was cancelled.
  • [Position, 2026-08-18] WUSF: “No-party candidate Branden Scrivener, who had no primary opposition, will also be vying for the position in November. Scrivener, 27, is a Medicare case manager.” It says the district covers parts of Pasco and Hillsborough County.
  • [Position, 2026-05-22] The Hernando Sun summarises his Ballotpedia answers: he opposes school vouchers and supports campaign finance reform, public education and congressional term limits.
  • [Read 2026-09-25] The Florida Division of Elections list for the 2026 general election shows him as a qualified No Party Affiliation candidate for District 12, qualifying on June 8, 2026.

Places that could not be read, so nothing is claimed from them

  • The rest of the Facebook post above, and the rest of his campaign's Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/Branden.scrivener.fl/ , which shows only opening lines to a reader who is not signed in.
  • His campaign's Instagram account, https://www.instagram.com/branden.scrivener.fl , and Threads account, https://www.threads.com/@branden.scrivener.fl , which do not display without signing in.
  • The spoken content of all 54 videos on his YouTube channel. Only their written descriptions were read.

Not on the card, and why

  • The report that his August 2026 Facebook post proposes cutting spending on Israel to fund Title I and special education: the part of the post that would carry it could not be read. It is described on this page and nothing is quoted from it.
  • The #israel and #aipac tags on two of his videos: tags are not statements, and the videos were not watched.
  • His positions on term limits, the size of the House, campaign finance, open primaries, public education, school safety, healthcare, housing, wages, data privacy, development and data centers: out of scope. They are listed above so the absence is checkable.
  • Gus Bilirakis's and Kimberly Overman's records: they belong on their own cards.

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

  • https://www.youtube.com/shorts/QWf4Ih5Epb4 (opened; 2026-09-25; published 2026-04-27)
  • https://www.youtube.com/@CitizensforBrandenScrivener , its shorts and videos lists, and the watch pages of all 54 videos listed there, including https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szl0dIhhcRU , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4bQecozN0Q , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcUEKwyPPWI , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDn_8eAnlsY , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFr88TsqO9w , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpEwUoboC0s and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaGPhfRB5BA (descriptions opened and read; 2026-09-25; captions could not be retrieved)
  • https://brandenscrivenerfl.info/ (opened; 2026-09-25)
  • https://ballotpedia.org/Branden_Scrivener (opened; 2026-09-25)
  • https://www.wusf.org/politics-issues/2026-08-18/pasco-primary-results-2026-kimberly-overman-wins-primary-setting-up-face-off-against-us-rep-gus-bilirakis (opened; 2026-09-25; published 2026-08-18)
  • https://www.hernandosun.com/2026/05/22/field-for-local-congressional-races-taking-shape/ (opened; 2026-09-25; published 2026-05-22)
  • https://dos.elections.myflorida.com/candidates/CanList.asp?elecid=20261103-GEN (opened; 2026-09-25)
  • https://www.facebook.com/Branden.scrivener.fl/posts/title-1-and-idea-both-need-to-be-fully-funded-to-support-student-needs-public-ed/122136905115236012/ (opening lines only; 2026-09-25)
  • https://linktr.ee/Citzensforbrandenscrivener (opened; 2026-09-25; links only)
  • This is a record of what was checked on 2026-09-07 and 2026-09-25, not a claim that no other statement exists.

Also in this race

  1. ✗ Gus Bilirakis (Republican)
  2. ? Kimberly Overman (Democrat)

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.