But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Bobby Charles
Republican · Governor, Maine
✗Supports
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.
Two reviewers, reading the public record as a whole, agree: In his own August 2024 column he faults U.S. military support to Israel as too weak and, in the same piece, warns Iron Dome could be overwhelmed absent more forward-leaning U.S. support, which points to more aid, not less. Reviewed by hand on 2026-10-01. This candidate has no recorded tracked floor votes.
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Charles is the Republican candidate for Governor of Maine, a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell and a former naval intelligence officer. His record here is a body of published commentary rather than anything he has done in state office, and it comes from his own bylined columns.
His clearest in-scope argument is that U.S. support has been too hesitant rather than too generous. In an August 2024 column for AMAC, the Association of Mature American Citizens, for which he is national spokesman, he wrote: "US pledges of military support to Israel under Biden-Harris, as well as leaders at DOD and State, have been inconsistent, weak, at times contradictory, and ineffective so far, with wild oscillations in foreign policy positions and engagement levels, no effect on Iran or the Gaza conflict." In the same column he warned of "the potential for Iran and Iraqi surrogates to overwhelm Israel’s Iron Dome – ballistic missile defenses – absent more forward-leaning US support," and called the administration's approach to deterrence "utterly feckless."
He frames the conflict regionally. In April 2024 he described Israel as fighting a "six-front war" orchestrated by Iran through Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and militias in Syria and Iraq. His other columns on the war, with their dates, are on his research page.
Governors do not vote on foreign aid or arms sales, and nothing located shows him addressing the question as a candidate for this office.
In their words
“US pledges of military support to Israel under Biden-Harris, as well as leaders at DOD and State, have been inconsistent, weak, at times contradictory, and ineffective so far, with wild oscillations in foreign policy positions and engagement levels, no effect on Iran or the Gaza conflict.”
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
2024-08-06 [Position]: In "Conflict With Iran Nears", his bylined AMAC column, he wrote: "Second, US pledges of military support to Israel under Biden-Harris, as well as leaders at DOD and State, have been inconsistent, weak, at times contradictory, and ineffective so far, with wild oscillations in foreign policy positions and engagement levels, no effect on Iran or the Gaza conflict." He went on: "When it comes to traditional deterrence, a show of force and promise of more if behaviors do not change, Biden-Harris, DOD’s Lloyd Austen, and State’s Tony Blinken have been utterly feckless." And on missile defense, he wrote of "the potential for Iran and Iraqi surrogates to overwhelm Israel’s Iron Dome – ballistic missile defenses – absent more forward-leaning US support". The direction is that U.S. support has been too weak, not too strong.
2023-10-08 [Months after October 7, 2023; on this page only]: In "Middle East Explodes" he noted U.S. weapons and materiel inventories were already heavily strained by aid sent to Ukraine, warning of strategic pressure as a third front opened, while maintaining that a strong U.S. commitment to regional stability remained essential.
Characterization of the conflict
2023-10-08 [Months after October 7, 2023]: In the same column he characterized the outbreak of war as a major "Middle East inflection point", writing that Hamas terrorists "must be extinguished" while acknowledging the shock and peril imposed on innocent Israelis and Palestinians alike.
2023-11-01 [Months after October 7, 2023]: In "Tears for the Children" he reiterated that Hamas terrorists must be eliminated while calling for extra moral and tactical effort by the warring parties to protect children in Gaza and Israel.
2023-12-13 [Months after October 7, 2023]: "Free Speech or Genocide, Smarten Up". No specific claim is taken from this column; its title indicates it addresses the campus speech debate.
2024-04-17 [Current position]: In "Israel's Six-Front War" he described Israel as fighting a six-front war orchestrated primarily by Iran through regional proxies including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and militias in Syria and Iraq.
Nothing located beyond the December 2023 column noted above.
Identity and ballot status
Ballotpedia profile; biography; campaign news in the Bangor Daily News (2026-06-19). The author note on the August 2024 column names him as AMAC's national spokesman and says he is running to be Maine's next governor.
What came back empty or unusable
No statement located on U.S. aid to Palestinians, UNRWA or Gaza humanitarian funding as a budget line.
Nothing located from the 2026 governor campaign itself. Every in-scope item is a column written before he was a candidate for this office, most of them for the same outlet.
All five substantive sources are columns at one publication, amac.us. His argument is well documented but singly carried.
But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and
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