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

Seth Haskin

Other · U.S. House, Florida District 19
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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: In a July 2026 post he opposes a bill that "further integrates the U.S. and Israeli defense establishments", saying his concern is not "cooperation between allies", without saying where he stands on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. Reviewed by hand on 2026-10-09. This candidate has no recorded tracked floor votes.

Haskin's campaign urged voters in July 2026 to tell senators to “vote NO on H.R. 8800”, a defense bill it said “merges our military with Israel’s”. Its objection was to permanent integration, not cooperation between allies. Nothing located from him addresses U.S. aid to the government of Israel.

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Deep Dive

Seth Haskin is running for Congress in Florida’s 19th District with no party affiliation, for the Southwest Florida seat Byron Donalds is leaving to run for governor. He lives in Fort Myers, holds a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience and has worked as a business manager, and he has not held office. He calls himself a strict constitutionalist, and his biggest goal in Congress, he says, is to enlarge the House of Representatives. He is on the November 3 ballot with Jim Schwartzel, the Republican nominee, and Victor Arias, the Democratic nominee; there is no incumbent.

The one statement of his located on this subject is about military integration rather than aid. On July 23, 2026, the day after the House passed its version of the annual defense bill, his campaign’s Facebook page posted a script for voters to read to their senators, headed: “Call your senators and tell them not to pass this bill that merges our military with Israel’s!” The script urges each senator to vote no on H.R. 8800 and gives the reason: “My concern is not with cooperation between allies, but with creating a permanent defense framework that further integrates the U.S. and Israeli defense establishments inside the Pentagon. This bill goes far beyond a traditional alliance by encouraging long-term integration of defense technologies, research, procurement, supply chains, and strategic planning.” It says American defense policy should “remain fully independent and guided solely by the interests of the American people”, cites George Washington’s warning against foreign influence, and argues that deeper defense commitments with foreign governments risk making military involvement more likely without the deliberation and authorization the Constitution requires. Its argument ends: “The question is not whether Israel is an ally. The question is whether Congress should create permanent structures that make America's military priorities increasingly intertwined with those of any foreign nation.”

The provision at issue was in the House bill. TIME reported that it would require the Defense Secretary to designate an executive agent to accelerate U.S. and Israeli cooperation on defense technology, including joint research, development and co-production of weapons, and that the House passed the bill with it intact on July 22. His post does not mention the military aid the United States sends to the government of Israel each year, and nothing else located from him does. Nothing located from him addresses U.S. aid to Palestinians or describes the war in Gaza.

His campaign site carries a foreign policy plank, headed Bring American Power Home, that names no country. It says “America should be strong enough to defend itself without attempting to police the world” and that he favors diplomacy and trade over permanent military commitments and entanglements that draw the country into foreign conflicts. His answers to Ballotpedia’s candidate questionnaire, submitted in June 2026, are about the size of the House, the powers of Congress and the 17th Amendment, and do not mention Israel or Gaza. What else was found is on his research page.

In their words

“Call your senators and tell them not to pass this bill that merges our military with Israel’s!”
Source ↗, 2026-07-23
“My concern is not with cooperation between allies, but with creating a permanent defense framework that further integrates the U.S. and Israeli defense establishments inside the Pentagon. This bill goes far beyond a traditional alliance by encouraging long-term integration of defense technologies, research, procurement, supply chains, and strategic planning.”
Source ↗, 2026-07-23
“The question is not whether Israel is an ally. The question is whether Congress should create permanent structures that make America's military priorities increasingly intertwined with those of any foreign nation.”
Source ↗, 2026-07-23

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 unless the entry says otherwise. His campaign site was read in full: its home page, its policy page, its about page, its endorsements, contact and volunteer pages. His Ballotpedia page and his Candidate Connection answers were read in full, along with his Florida Division of Elections filing, the one video on his YouTube channel, the campaign Facebook post our research pointed to, and two news reports on the bill it concerns. 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.

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

  • [Position, 2026-07-23] A post on his campaign’s Facebook page, Seth Haskin for Congress, a call script for voters to read to their senators, over an image that was not read. It opens “USE THIS SCRIPT! CALL YOUR SENATOR!” and then: “Call your senators and tell them not to pass this bill that merges our military with Israel’s!” The script reads: “Hello, my name is [Your Name], and I'm a constituent from [City], Florida. I'm calling to urge Senator [Name] to vote NO on H.R. 8800 or the NDAA!” Then: “My concern is not with cooperation between allies, but with creating a permanent defense framework that further integrates the U.S. and Israeli defense establishments inside the Pentagon. This bill goes far beyond a traditional alliance by encouraging long-term integration of defense technologies, research, procurement, supply chains, and strategic planning.” Then: “I believe America's defense policy should remain fully independent and guided solely by the interests of the American people. As George Washington warned in his Farewell Address, we should be constantly vigilant against foreign influence and avoid "interweaving our destiny" with that of other nations in ways that limit our future choices.” Then: “I'm also concerned that Congress has already surrendered too much of its constitutional authority over war. As executive power has expanded, creating deeper institutional defense commitments with foreign governments risks making future military involvement more likely without the full deliberation and authorization the Constitution requires.” Then: “The question is not whether Israel is an ally. The question is whether Congress should create permanent structures that make America's military priorities increasingly intertwined with those of any foreign nation.” It closes: “Please ask Senator [Name] to defend American sovereignty, preserve Congress's constitutional role, and vote NO on H.R. 8800.” and “Thank you for your time.” Each of those passages is a separate paragraph in the post.
  • [Context, 2026-08-06] TIME’s report on the bill, by Miranda Jeyaretnam: the House version of the annual defense bill “would require the Defense Secretary to designate an executive agent to accelerate U.S.-Israeli cooperation on defense technology”, with cooperation including “bilateral research, development and co-production of weapons and technology in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and other fields”, and “The House subsequently passed the NDAA with the provision intact on July 22.” The report also describes separate proposals to phase down direct military funding for Israel. This is reporting about the bill, not about him, and is here so a reader can see what the post opposes.
  • [Context, 2026-07-22] Military.com’s report identifies the provision as Section 219 of H.R. 8800, formerly Section 224, which would direct the defense secretary to designate a Pentagon executive agent to oversee the United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative. It does not mention him.
  • Nothing located from him on the annual military aid to the government of Israel, the memorandum of understanding, Foreign Military Financing, any arms sale, or any other bill by name. The post is about integrating defense establishments, and it says in its own words that its objection is not to cooperation between allies.

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 on his campaign site, in his Ballotpedia answers, in his campaign announcement video or in the post above.

Characterization of the conflict

  • Nothing located, at any date. The word Gaza appears nowhere in anything of his that was read. The one sentence that touches the relationship is in the post above: “The question is not whether Israel is an ally.”

Israel-related rhetoric and lobbying

  • [Position, 2026-07-23] The post above invokes George Washington’s Farewell Address against “foreign influence” and against “interweaving our destiny” with other nations, and asks senators to “defend American sovereignty”. It names no lobbying organization.
  • [Position; the page is undated and was read 2026-09-25] His policy page says under its plan to increase the size of the House that more representatives would “Dilute Lobbying & Corruption”. That is a general argument about lobbying and names no organization. Nothing located from him mentions the American Israel Public Affairs Committee or any other organization on this subject, and no pledge about donations from them was found.

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

  • Nothing located, at any date. In this connection our research pointed to two pages of a voter guide for this district; both belong to another candidate, Linda Sawyer, who ran in the Republican primary, and neither was read. Nothing from them is his. Addresses: https://www.localcandidates.org/politicians/linda-sawyer/positions/143ae877-1745-4386-92b1-5f35493c379b and https://www.localcandidates.org/politicians/linda-sawyer/positions/fb600388-9127-4856-b121-2244db4db03f

The race and his own account of himself

  • [Undated; read 2026-09-25] Ballotpedia’s page for him: “Seth Haskin (No Party Affiliation) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Florida's 19th Congressional District.” It lists the general election field as Victor Arias (D), Jim Schwartzel (R), Seth Haskin (No Party Affiliation) and Alexandra Zakhvatayev (No Party Affiliation), a write-in candidate, with no incumbent. The race page records Schwartzel winning the Republican primary on August 18, 2026 with 29.1 percent and Arias the Democratic primary with 45.5 percent, and lists Byron Donalds among the candidates who withdrew. The same Ballotpedia page for Haskin also records a write-in candidacy for governor of Wisconsin in 2022 and an independent candidacy for the Wisconsin State Assembly in 2024 from which he withdrew; his biography there lists a Wisconsin high school and a 2022 degree from Bethel University.
  • [Position, 2026-06-09] His Candidate Connection answers, submitted on June 9, 2026. He answered every question at length: his three key messages are enlarging the House, restoring the non-delegation doctrine and repealing the 17th Amendment, and the areas he names are constitutional limits, federalism, decentralized power and anti-corruption reform. Nothing in the answers names Israel, Gaza, Palestinians, weapons or foreign aid. Because he used the form at length on other subjects, that silence is a fact about his answers there.
  • [Undated; read 2026-09-25] The Florida Division of Elections filing: Seth Haskin, No Party Affiliation, United States Representative, District 19, with an address in Fort Myers; filed May 15, 2026 and qualified June 8, 2026 by paying the qualifying fee.
  • [Undated; read 2026-09-25] His campaign site: the home page, the policy page, the about page, endorsements, contact and social accounts and volunteer page. The policy page sets out six plans: restoring the selection of senators by state legislatures, restoring constitutional government, enlarging the House, a metal-backed dollar and repeal of the income tax, Bring American Power Home, and the Fourth Amendment. The foreign policy plank reads in part: “America should be strong enough to defend itself without attempting to police the world. Our foreign policy should protect American sovereignty, restore constitutional accountability, avoid permanent entanglements, and place diplomacy ahead of unnecessary military intervention.” and “America can engage the world without occupying it. I favor strong diplomacy, trade, and peaceful relations over permanent military commitments, unnecessary overseas bases, and entanglements that repeatedly draw America into foreign conflicts.” It names no country. Nothing else on the site mentions Israel, Gaza, Palestinians or foreign aid.
  • [Position, 2026-06-17] His campaign announcement video, about five minutes long, the only video on his YouTube channel. It is about the Declaration of Independence, faction and running outside the two parties, as its captions render it, and nothing in it concerns this subject.
  • [2026-07-12] A guide to the district’s primary candidates published by Sparker’s Soapbox profiles the thirteen candidates in the two party primaries only, so it has no entry for him.

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

  • The rest of his campaign’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61588675782439 , beyond the post above; his accounts on X, https://x.com/Seth4FL , Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/seth4fl/ , and TikTok, https://www.tiktok.com/@seth4fl , all linked from his campaign site.
  • A radio interview posted on his campaign site’s home page under Media Apperances, which exists only as audio and was not heard.
  • Florida Politics’ report on the candidates who qualified in this district, https://floridapolitics.com/archives/801768-massive-field-qualifies-in-race-to-succeed-byron-donalds-in-congress/ , which could not be opened.

Not on the card, and why

  • Military.com’s report, and the parts of TIME’s report beyond its description of the provision: reporting about the bill and about other lawmakers, not about him. The description of the provision is on the deep dive so a reader can see what the post opposes.
  • The voter-guide pages our research linked to antisemitism in this race: they belong to another candidate.
  • His candidacies in Wisconsin in 2022 and 2024, as Ballotpedia records them: they are not about this subject.
  • His plans on the Senate, the income tax, money, the size of the House and surveillance: out of scope. They are listed above so the absence is checkable.
  • Jim Schwartzel’s and Victor Arias’s records: they belong on their own cards.

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

  • https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=122107876599289192&set=a.122100346515289192 (opened; 2026-09-25; posted 2026-07-23), the same post as https://www.facebook.com/61588675782439/photos/use-this-script-call-your-senatorcall-your-senators-and-tell-them-not-to-pass-th/122107876599289192/
  • https://www.sethhaskinforfl.com/ , https://www.sethhaskinforfl.com/policy , https://www.sethhaskinforfl.com/about-seth-haskin , https://www.sethhaskinforfl.com/endorsements , https://www.sethhaskinforfl.com/social-media-contact and https://www.sethhaskinforfl.com/volunteer (opened; 2026-09-25)
  • https://ballotpedia.org/Seth_Haskin and https://ballotpedia.org/Florida%27s_19th_Congressional_District_election,_2026 (opened; 2026-09-25)
  • https://dos.elections.myflorida.com/candidates/CanDetail.asp?account=90744 (opened; 2026-09-25)
  • https://time.com/article/2026/08/06/us-israel-military-funding-defense-bill-ndaa/ (opened; 2026-09-25; published 2026-08-06) and https://www.military.com/us-israel-defense-integration-horizon-house-keeps-section-219-ndaa (opened; 2026-09-25; published 2026-07-22)
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-UXBEcMhY4 (opened; 2026-09-25; published 2026-06-17; read through its automatic captions) and https://www.youtube.com/@Seth4FL (opened; 2026-09-25)
  • https://www.sparkers-soapbox.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/florida-19th-congressional-district-candidates-2026.pdf (opened; 2026-09-25; dated 2026-07-12)
  • https://floridapolitics.com/archives/801768-massive-field-qualifies-in-race-to-succeed-byron-donalds-in-congress/ (could not open; 2026-09-25) and https://www.localcandidates.org/politicians/linda-sawyer/positions/143ae877-1745-4386-92b1-5f35493c379b , https://www.localcandidates.org/politicians/linda-sawyer/positions/fb600388-9127-4856-b121-2244db4db03f (not opened; another candidate’s pages)
  • 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. – Jim Schwartzel (Republican)
  2. – Victor Arias (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.