But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
LaKesha Womack
Democrat · U.S. House, North Carolina District 14
?Mixed
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: She supports conditioning U.S. security assistance on international humanitarian law, which is conditions with nothing calling for an end to the aid. Reviewed by hand on 2026-10-01. This candidate has no recorded tracked floor votes.
Womack told a WSOC candidate guide she supports "conditioning U.S. security assistance on international humanitarian law," alongside "ending mass displacement and aid restrictions" and "uphold[ing] Israel's legitimate security needs within international law."
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Womack is a Democratic candidate for North Carolina's 14th District.
Her fullest answer is in WSOC-TV's February 2026 candidate guide, where she was asked what the role of the United States should be in Venezuela, Ukraine and Israel-Palestine. On Israel and Palestine she wrote that the United States "must use its influence to protect civilians, secure the release of hostages, uphold Israel's legitimate security needs within international law, and advance a durable political resolution grounded in human dignity and equal rights." The specifics she listed include "protecting Palestinian civilians, ending mass displacement and aid restrictions, demanding sustained humanitarian access, supporting an enforceable ceasefire with accountability, conditioning U.S. security assistance on international humanitarian law, opposing settlement expansion and permanent occupation, and recommitting to a viable two-state solution guaranteeing Palestinian self-determination alongside lasting security for Israelis."
She set out the general rule in the same answer: "Where we provide funds or weapons, we should demand transparency, legality, and performance because credibility is itself a national security asset."
She has no federal voting record.
In November 2025 she hosted an episode of her podcast on Israel, Palestine and the Black church with Marc Lamont Hill and Obery Hendricks. The words in that episode description are the podcast's rather than hers, and no position of hers is drawn from it.
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.
In their words
“This includes protecting Palestinian civilians, ending mass displacement and aid restrictions, demanding sustained humanitarian access, supporting an enforceable ceasefire with accountability, conditioning U.S. security assistance on international humanitarian law, opposing settlement expansion and permanent occupation, and recommitting to a viable two-state solution guaranteeing Palestinian self-determination alongside lasting security for Israelis.”
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, 2026-02-12] WSOC-TV candidate guide, opened and confirmed word for word, read under her own heading "LaKesha Womack (D)". Her answer on Israel and Palestine, in full: "The United States must use its influence to protect civilians, secure the release of hostages, uphold Israel's legitimate security needs within international law, and advance a durable political resolution grounded in human dignity and equal rights. This includes protecting Palestinian civilians, ending mass displacement and aid restrictions, demanding sustained humanitarian access, supporting an enforceable ceasefire with accountability, conditioning U.S. security assistance on international humanitarian law, opposing settlement expansion and permanent occupation, and recommitting to a viable two-state solution guaranteeing Palestinian self-determination alongside lasting security for Israelis." And, applying to all three conflicts in the question: "Where we provide funds or weapons, we should demand transparency, legality, and performance because credibility is itself a national security asset."
⚠ **The research attributed another candidate's answer to her.** It reported that she said the United States must use all leverage "from public pressure to stopping funding in order to push all sides to reality." Read in place, that sentence is **Brent Caldwell's**, another Democratic candidate in this district, whose answers appear above hers on the same page. It is not hers and is not used. Her own answer, quoted above, is longer and more specific than the one she was given.
[Position, 2026-06-24, reported] A Facebook post said to contrast military aid with domestic health coverage: "we hand Israel billions annually in military aid while 68,000 Americans die each year from lack of health insurance." The research's source list for this dimension includes a post from Rep. Betty McCollum's page as well as her own campaign page; given that a wrong-person attribution has already been found in this record, the quote is not used until its source is read under her own name.
[Position, undated] Her campaign issues page and a campaign post titled "Where I stand: strength through diplomacy" are cited by the research for prioritising diplomacy and humanitarian assistance over military aid. Not opened.
She has no federal voting record.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
[Position, 2026-02-12] "Ending mass displacement and aid restrictions, demanding sustained humanitarian access" (confirmed verbatim, above). This is a direct position on U.S. and Israeli restrictions on aid reaching Palestinians.
Characterization of the conflict
[Position, 2026-02-12] Frames a resolution around "human dignity and equal rights," "a viable two-state solution guaranteeing Palestinian self-determination alongside lasting security for Israelis," and opposition to "settlement expansion and permanent occupation" (confirmed verbatim).
[Position, 2025-11-10] Hosted an episode of The Politics of Jesus Podcast titled "Israel, Palestine, and the Black Church" with Marc Lamont Hill and Obery Hendricks. The research quotes the phrase "systems of apartheid, occupation, and oppression" from the episode description. A description of a discussion is not a statement of the host's position, and the episode was not listened to, so nothing is attributed to her from it.
Related rhetoric and lobbying
[2026-03-01] At a Davidson College candidate forum, per the research and the student paper, her primary opponents pledged to refuse pro-Israel lobbying donations. What other candidates pledged is not her position, and the research records no pledge by her. Nothing is inferred either way. Not opened.
The WSOC guide carries on-record answers on this question from two other NC-14 candidates who have no record on this site: **Brent Caldwell (D)**, whose answer is quoted in the wrong-person note above, and the guide also names **Ahmid Kargbo (D)** and **Kate Barr (R)** as candidates in this race.
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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