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

Patrick "Pat" Forbes

Democrat · U.S. House, Louisiana District 6
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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.

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. We found nothing in their own words about Israel, Gaza or the war.

Nothing located has Forbes taking a position on U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel, or on U.S. aid to Palestinians. His own campaign site sets out a platform on disaster recovery and infrastructure and does not reach it.

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Deep Dive

Forbes is a Democratic candidate in Louisiana's 6th District and was for years the executive director of Louisiana's Office of Community Development.

His campaign site was read straight through and carries nothing on Israel, Gaza, Palestinians, foreign aid or foreign policy. The platform he announced is about disaster recovery, infrastructure, health care and the state economy, which is the ground his career was built on. Coverage of the ten-candidate field in this district carries nothing from him on these questions either.

What was checked to reach that conclusion is listed on this card's research page. You are better placed to get an answer than we are. Ask Forbes directly, or at a candidate forum, and send us the reply: it goes on this page in his own words.

Research log

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

  • Nothing located.

U.S. aid to Palestinians

  • Nothing located.

Characterization of the conflict

  • Nothing located.

Related rhetoric and lobbying

  • Nothing located.

Safety and antisemitism (context)

  • Nothing located.

Where the absence was checked

  • [Consulted, read 2026-08-20] His campaign site. Opened and read in full; no mention of Israel, Gaza, Palestinians, foreign aid or foreign policy. An issues sub-page was also attempted and returns 404. This is the own-site check the standing rule requires before a card rests on absence, and here it confirmed the absence rather than overturning it.
  • [Consulted, read 2026-08-20] Coverage of the district's ten-candidate field, dated 2026-08-08. Opens and names him; nothing in scope.
  • [Consulted, read 2026-08-20] The Ballotpedia race page for this district and a candidate oversight profile. Both open; no position of his. The oversight profile was cited in our earlier search as the basis for four separate absence findings, which it cannot support, so the absence was checked against his own site instead.
  • ⚠ **Name collisions, recorded so they are never used.** Two addresses supplied under his name concern entirely different people: an academic review of a book about a seventeenth-century Bishop of Aberdeen named Patrick Forbes and a film listing for a documentary by a British filmmaker of the same name. Both open and neither is about this candidate. Nothing from either is used.

Race and status context

  • Qualified on Louisiana's certified list for the all-candidate November election in the 6th District, with a December runoff between the top two if nobody clears half the vote. Ten candidates are on the ballot in this district.
  • He has held no federal office, so there are no recorded votes on this card. His state agency service is not a voting record and is not presented as one.

Also in this race

  1. – Blake Miguez (Republican)
  2. – Larry Davis III (Republican)
  3. – Michael Mebruer (Republican)
  4. ? Monique Appeaning (Republican)
  5. ? Rick Edmonds (Republican)
  6. – Stephen Wagley (Republican)
  7. – Chauna Banks (Democrat)
  8. ? Lindsay "Rubia" Garcia (Democrat)
  9. – Rufus Craig (Libertarian)

All Louisiana 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.