But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Peggy Flanagan
Democrat · U.S. Senate, Minnesota
✓OpposesFrom their own words
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.
Flanagan's platform would halt offensive weapons sales to the government of Israel and "surge aid to Gaza and help rebuild the area." Of her primary opponent's vote against the $3.3 billion cut: "unconscionable" to "fund additional weapons of war to Benjamin Netanyahu."
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Flanagan, Minnesota's lieutenant governor, won the August 11, 2026 Democratic Senate primary. Her November 2025 platform states the position in three directions at once: "Peggy would have joined Minnesota Senators Smith and Klobuchar in voting to halt offensive weapons sales to Israel," a ceasefire and "a two-state solution which allows for a secure Israel and Palestinian self-determination," and "the United States and global partners must surge aid to Gaza and help rebuild the area." Per the Forward's reporting, she distinguishes offensive transfers, such as 1,000-pound bombs, from defensive aid like Iron Dome funding, which she supports keeping.
She made the primary a referendum on the question: after Rep. Angie Craig voted against the amendment that would have cut $3.3 billion in military aid, Flanagan said "A vote to send $3.3 billion of taxpayer money to fund additional weapons of war to Benjamin Netanyahu is unconscionable," branded Craig "AIPAC's candidate," and said she would reject AIPAC's money. During the campaign she characterized Israel's conduct in Gaza as a genocide, per JNS and JTA reporting.
Her record on antisemitism is dated and specific: condemning Holocaust analogies at the Capitol in 2022, the Detroit-area synagogue attack in March 2025 ("Hate brings no one more safety, more dignity, or more peace"), and the October 2025 vandalism of Temple Israel in Minneapolis.
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.
✓ Endorsed by Peace Action +1 more
Peace ActionA national peace and disarmament group. Its endorsements cover war, Pentagon spending and diplomacy broadly, not only U.S. weapons for the government of Israel.A New Policy PACA group backing congressional candidates who want a new U.S. policy toward Israel and Palestine grounded in U.S. and international law, including conditions on military aid.These endorsements come from groups that push to restrict or end U.S. weapons transfers to the government of Israel. Endorsements from these groups are shown for information; they do not decide the mark.
In their words
“A vote to send $3.3 billion of taxpayer money to fund additional weapons of war to Benjamin Netanyahu is unconscionable.”
Peace Action (2026 endorsement) · A New Policy PAC (2026 endorsement)
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
[Position, 2025-11-04] Campaign priorities page, read and verified verbatim (~12,000-word page; the foreign-policy paragraph): "Peggy would have joined Minnesota Senators Smith and Klobuchar in voting to halt offensive weapons sales to Israel."
[Position, 2026, per the Forward] Distinguishes offensive transfers (1,000-pound bombs, assault rifles) from defensive aid (Iron Dome funding), supporting the latter (Forward, 2026-08-13; not read; attributed).
[Position, 2026-08-11 article; statement 2026-07-27 as reported] On Craig's vote against the $3.3 billion cut (JTA, read and verified): "A vote to send $3.3 billion of taxpayer money to fund additional weapons of war to Benjamin Netanyahu is unconscionable." Her own Facebook version of the attack returned 400.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
[Position, 2025-11-04] Platform, verified verbatim: "the United States and global partners must surge aid to Gaza and help rebuild the area." Direction named: more U.S. and allied aid to Gaza.
Characterization of the conflict
[Position, 2026, per JNS/JTA] Characterized Israel's military conduct in Gaza as a "genocide" (JNS, 2026-08-12; JTA: "accuses Israel of committing a genocide"; Times of Israel, 2026-08-12). The word is the outlets' account of her campaign statements; no single verbatim sentence of hers using it was captured, so the deep dive attributes it to the reporting.
[Position, 2025-11-04] Platform, verified: lasting ceasefire; "a two-state solution which allows for a secure Israel and Palestinian self-determination."
Related rhetoric and lobbying
[Position, 2026-07/08] Branded Craig "AIPAC's candidate" (as reported, and Jewish Insider, 2026-08-10); would "reject AIPAC's money" (JTA, verified phrasing). A money-refusal element rides inside this; her weapons position is separately stated in her platform, so the two cannot be conflated on this card.
[Position, 2026-08-13] Post-primary framing: an Israel critic as nominee (Forward); a mediaite debate source returned 403.
Safety and antisemitism (context)
[Prior, 2022-08-26] At a Capitol press conference with Jewish lawmakers, condemned Holocaust comparisons to COVID mandates: "It was a timely reminder that rejecting antisemitism and extremism has to be taken seriously, and that starts by listening to Jewish leaders and Jewish Minnesotans" (reported; the tcjewfolk source returned 403).
[Position, 2025-03, reported] After a violent attack near a Detroit-area synagogue: "Our Jewish communities are facing unprecedented levels of violence and threats... Hate brings no one more safety, more dignity, or more peace" (Facebook source 400; reproduced from an earlier read).
[Position, 2025-10-08, reported] After Temple Israel in Minneapolis was defaced: "My heart is with the congregants of Temple Israel and our entire Jewish community" (Facebook source 400; truncated in the source).
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.
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