Matt Dunlap
Dunlap won his primary against a sitting member he attacked over aid votes, telling an interviewer support for sending offensive weapons to Israel "is eroding quickly... because people see what’s happening on the news" and that "People are very impatient to see an end to that war".
Dunlap is the Democratic nominee in Maine’s 2nd District, the state auditor and longtime former secretary of state, who defeated the sitting member in the June 2026 primary.
Launching that challenge in October 2025, he told Semafor that congressional support for continuing to send offensive military weapons to Israel "is eroding quickly", "because people see what’s happening on the news", and that "People are very impatient to see an end to that war." The incumbent’s aid votes were part of his case, and readers’ letters in the state’s largest paper (their authors’ framings, not news reporting) described Gaza as bearing on the race.
His own affirmative aid policy (what he would vote to send, under what conditions) is not yet on the record in anything located, and this card says so. Ask Dunlap directly and send us the reply: it goes on this page in his own words.
Research
U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel
- [Position, 2025-10-06] The Semafor launch interview, verified: the eroding-support and impatient-to-see-an-end quotes on the card. His campaign’s case included the incumbent’s support for offensive military aid.
- No affirmative policy of his own (packages, conditions) located; stated on the card.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
- Nothing located.
Characterization of the conflict
- The Semafor quotes above carry his framing through public opinion and war-weariness.
Related rhetoric and lobbying
- Nothing located. No tracked funding badge appears because no committee support is recorded for him.
Safety and antisemitism (context)
- Nothing located.
Source notes
- Two Press Herald items the research offered as coverage are readers’ LETTERS (one saying Gaza "will have a bearing" on Maine elections; another on shifted attitudes, whose author uses the word genocide). Letter-writers’ framings, labelled as such; neither is adopted nor treated as reporting.
Race and status context
- Democratic nominee after defeating the sitting member in the primary; his Republican opponent’s card carries its own record. His state offices are outside this project’s tracked set.
Also in this race: Paul LePage (Republican) · All Maine candidates.
See the full record →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 the interactive card for votes, funding and contact details.