But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Michael J. Quirk
Other · U.S. House, Florida District 17
–No Position Found
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.
Michael J. Quirk is running in Florida's 17th District, which runs down the Gulf Coast from the city of Sarasota to Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda, with no party affiliation, and the Division of Elections lists him as qualified for the November 3, 2026 ballot. His campaign site says he has spent thirty years in technology, the last decade in cybersecurity and privacy, moved to Sarasota in 2024 and started a cybersecurity firm there, and has almost always voted Republican. He faces Representative Greg Steube and Matthew Montavon, who won the Democratic primary on August 18. He has held no office, so there are no votes on this record.
The nearest thing to an answer is a plank about war and military aid that names no country. The fifth of the five priorities on his platform is headed No Wars Without a Vote. It says Congress has ducked its war powers for twenty years "while the checks kept flowing", and it lists among the things he would fight for: "No blank checks for any country, ally or not: military aid gets real conditions on how American weapons are used and a real up-or-down vote, not billions buried in a bill nobody dares touch". It also asks for "Objectives, exit conditions, and sunset dates in every military funding measure", and his biography page promises to "End the blank checks for wars abroad while Americans are hurting at home". The plank's only named conflict is the war with Iran. Nothing on his site says how these conditions would apply to U.S. military aid to the government of Israel, and the words Israel, Gaza and Palestinian appear nowhere on it.
Nothing located addresses U.S. aid to Palestinians or how he describes the war in Gaza. His list of promises includes refusing corporate political action committee money, dark-money groups and "foreign-linked dollars"; it names no organization, and a pledge about his own fundraising is not a position on what the United States sends. He has not completed Ballotpedia's candidate survey.
You are better placed to close this than we are. Ask Quirk whether his conditions on military aid would apply to the government of Israel, 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 2026-09-27) 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
“No blank checks for any country, ally or not: military aid gets real conditions on how American weapons are used and a real up-or-down vote, not billions buried in a bill nobody dares touch”
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 2026-09-28, and every page below was opened and read on 2026-10-01 unless the entry says otherwise. His campaign site was read in full: its home page, its issues page, its biography page and its page of promises. His Ballotpedia page, Ballotpedia's page for the race and a local election guide were read. He has held no office, so none of the congressional votes this site tracks are his. Bands: Position (2024-01-26 onward), Reaction window (2023-10-07 to 2024-01-25), Earlier record (before 2023-10-07), Undated.
U.S. military aid and weapons to the government of Israel
Nothing located that names the government of Israel, at any date. The word Israel appears nowhere on his campaign site.
[Position; undated live page, read 2026-10-01] The closest material is a plank that names no recipient. His issues page, under the heading No Wars Without a Vote, opens: "The Constitution gives war powers to Congress so that sending Americans to fight requires the people's representatives to stand up and vote. For twenty years, Congress has ducked that vote while the checks kept flowing." It names one conflict, the war with Iran, which it says Congress never authorized. Its five points are: "No sustained conflict without congressional authorization: debated, voted, on the record" · "Retire the twenty-year-old war authorizations: replace them, when genuinely needed, with narrow, mission-specific authorizations that expire" · "Objectives, exit conditions, and sunset dates in every military funding measure; no more open-ended checks" · "No blank checks for any country, ally or not: military aid gets real conditions on how American weapons are used and a real up-or-down vote, not billions buried in a bill nobody dares touch" · "Use the power of the purse: when a president ignores Congress on war, Congress stops writing the checks. That is the one power a veto cannot touch". The page's summary of the plank reads: "No more blank checks. Congress debates and votes before Americans fight or fund a war."
[Position; undated live page, read 2026-10-01] His biography page lists among the things he will fight to do: "End the blank checks for wars abroad while Americans are hurting at home". No country is named.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
Nothing located, at any date. Gaza, the West Bank, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency and humanitarian funding appear nowhere on his campaign site.
Characterization of the conflict
Nothing located, at any date. The words Israel, Gaza, Palestinian and Hamas appear nowhere on his campaign site. The war his platform names is the war with Iran, which is a different question from what the United States sends the government of Israel.
Israel-related rhetoric and lobbying
[Position; undated live page, read 2026-10-01] His page of promises, promise 2: "I won’t cash corporate or foreign checks. Period." followed by "No corporate PAC money. No dark-money front groups. No foreign-linked dollars." It names no organization on this subject. The same page promises a multi-year cooling-off period before former members can lobby. A pledge about his own fundraising is not a position on what the United States sends.
Safety and antisemitism (context, not an answer to what America sends)
Nothing located, at any date.
What the campaign site and own pages say
[Position; undated live page, read 2026-10-01] His issues page sets out five priorities: Lowering Costs, Protecting Retirement; Fixing Insurance, Our Coast & Evacuation; Defending Your Privacy in the AI Age; A Government That Answers to You; and No Wars Without a Vote. It adds short positions on mental health, immigration, the Second Amendment, abortion and LGBTQ Americans.
[Position; undated live page, read 2026-10-01] His biography page says he was born in Peoria, Illinois, grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago, worked for thirty years building and securing data centers and networks for banks, airlines and technology companies, and in 2024 moved to Sarasota, where he founded a cybersecurity firm, Securipolis. It says he has voted "almost always Republican", for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 primary and for Donald Trump in 2024, and that he is running with no party affiliation.
[Position; undated live page, read 2026-10-01] His home page repeats the five priorities.
The race
[Read 2026-10-01] The Division of Elections' record for him lists Michael J. Quirk, No Party Affiliation, for United States Representative, District 17, of Sarasota, filed on 05/04/2026 and qualified on 06/11/2026 by paying the qualifying fee, website michaelquirkforcongress.com.
[Read 2026-10-01] His Ballotpedia page says he is on the November 3, 2026 general election ballot with Greg Steube (R) and Matthew Montavon (D), and that he has not completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey. Ballotpedia's page for the race lists the same three.
[Position, 2026-09-24] Patch's Sarasota County election guide lists him as "Michael J. Quirk, No Party Affiliation" for the 17th District, with no positions.
[Read 2026-10-01] Politics1 lists "Michael Quirk (NPA)" with no description.
Places that could not be read, so nothing is claimed from them
His campaign's accounts, all linked from its site: X, http://x.com/mjquirk4fl17 , Bluesky, https://bsky.app/profile/mjquirk4fl17.bsky.social , Facebook, https://facebook.com/mjquirk4fl17 , Instagram, https://instagram.com/mjquirk4fl17 , TikTok, https://tiktok.com/@mjquirk4fl17 , and YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/@mjquirk4fl17 . None was read.
His site's events and volunteer pages were not read; they are sign-up and calendar pages.
Not on the card, and why
The war with Iran, the only conflict his platform names: a different question from what the United States sends the government of Israel, and kept off the front for that reason. Named once in the deep dive as the plank's only named conflict.
His pledge to refuse corporate, dark-money and foreign-linked money: a pledge about his own fundraising, not a position on what the United States sends. In the deep dive as such.
Greg Steube's and Matthew Montavon's records: they belong on their own cards.
Sources read for this card (address; opened or could not open; date read)
https://www.michaelquirkforcongress.com/ , https://www.michaelquirkforcongress.com/issues , https://www.michaelquirkforcongress.com/about and https://www.michaelquirkforcongress.com/promises (opened; 2026-10-01; the issues page read by two routes)
https://ballotpedia.org/Michael_Quirk and https://ballotpedia.org/Florida%27s_17th_Congressional_District_election,_2026 (opened; 2026-10-01)
But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and
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