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

Josh Smead

Democrat · U.S. House, Missouri 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.

No position from Smead on U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel, or on U.S. aid to Palestinians, could be verified (source-checked research). His campaign site and his Ballotpedia page do not mention Israel or Gaza.

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Deep Dive

Smead is the Democratic candidate for Missouri's 6th District, who won his primary on 5 August 2026.

His campaign website and his Ballotpedia page were both read in full on 12 August 2026. Neither mentions Israel or Gaza.

The only other thing on the record for him is one social-media post, cited three times. A volunteer opened it and read it: it is mainly about Iran, not about what the United States sends to the government of Israel or to Palestinians. So we are not building a position out of it, and this card says plainly that we do not know where he stands.

He has no federal voting record.

You are better placed to change that than we are. Ask Smead directly, or at a candidate forum, and send us the reply: it goes on this page in his own words.

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 2026-07-23) from the five lobbying groups we track; earlier cycles and earmarked donations not yet tracked.
Support-only OpenFEC data. Opposition independent expenditures are excluded.

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

  • **No verified statement.** His campaign website and his Ballotpedia page were both opened and read in full: **neither mentions Israel or Gaza.**
  • [Reported, 2026-07-08, unverified] As reported, a social-media statement in which he criticised continued U.S. military assistance, noting that the United States has provided weapons support to Israel, and opposed U.S. military backing during what the research renders as an ongoing conflict in which Israel is routinely engaging in war crimes and tactics killing hundreds of civilians every week, calling for a commitment to no direct U.S. military engagement in regional escalations and for direct diplomacy instead. The research supplies wording; because the source cannot be opened, nothing here is presented as a verbatim quotation. The research's source is a single Facebook post, **cited three times and not readable**. Recorded as reported; not quoted and not attributed in his own voice. **A volunteer has since opened and read that post: it is mainly about Iran, not about U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel or about aid to Palestinians.** The card is therefore written as an honest absence.
  • He has no federal voting record.

U.S. aid to Palestinians

  • No statement located.

Characterization of the conflict

  • [Reported, 2026-07-08, unverified] The war-crimes characterization above, from the same unreadable post.
  • [Reported, 2026-07-08, unverified] As reported, in a follow-up comment on the same post addressing people who responded to his position, he said, as reported, that he is absolutely not pro-Palestine and not a leftist. **This is recorded because omitting it would be worse than omitting the first half.** A card that carried his criticism of weapons support without his own disavowal of the label he expected to attract would place him in a camp he has explicitly rejected. Same unreadable source, so neither half is quoted.

Related rhetoric and lobbying

  • Nothing located.

Safety and antisemitism (context)

  • Nothing located.

Note on why this card is written as an absence

  • Six sources: his own site, his Ballotpedia page, coverage of his primary win, and the same Facebook post three times. The two of his own that could be read say nothing on this question. The remaining one was opened by a volunteer and is about Iran. This is the same shape as mo3-mann in the same state.

Also in this race

  1. ? Chris Stigall (Republican)
  2. – Andy Maidment (Libertarian)

All Missouri 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.