Richard Ojeda
Ojeda has not stated a position in his own words on U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel, or on U.S. aid to Palestinians. A PAC linked to him ran texts on the subject in 2024; the research page explains why they are not his words.
Ojeda is the Democratic candidate for North Carolina's 9th District, and a former West Virginia state senator.
His own campaign material does not address this question. His Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey, read in full, contains no mention of Israel or foreign policy at all. He has no federal voting record.
The one thing on the record is not his. In October 2024 Turn Left PAC, which is on his endorser list, ran a text-message campaign attacking AIPAC and U.S. military aid. Talking Points Memo reported the texts and called their language antisemitic. The words are a committee's, not his, and the only account of them is a critique. The research page sets out all three reasons they are not reproduced here.
So the question stands open. You are better placed to answer it than we are: ask him directly, or at a candidate forum, and send us the reply. It goes on this page in his own words.
Research
U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel
- No statement located in his own words.
- His Ballotpedia page and Candidate Connection survey were opened and read in full. They contain no reference to Israel and none to foreign policy. His survey answers cover economic, education and veterans policy. His endorsement list includes the North Carolina AFL-CIO, CWA, the North Carolina Progressive Caucus and Turn Left PAC.
- [Position, 2026-07-22, reported] Said during his campaign to oppose deep U.S. military involvement in Middle Eastern conflicts and taxpayer funding of foreign military action. The research's source is a TrackAIPAC campaign statement. Advocacy sources are consulted, never card sources (C3), and no source in his own words was located, so this is recorded rather than stated as his position.
- He has no federal voting record.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
- No statement or documented position located.
Characterization of the conflict
- [Position, 2026-05-20, reported] In a livestream interview with Hal Sparks he discussed Middle East instability, oil supply and the Strait of Hormuz. The source is a Facebook video; not readable, and the research records no position from it on U.S. assistance.
- No characterization located in his own words of the war in Gaza, of Palestinian statehood, or of the conduct of either side.
⚠ The Turn Left PAC text campaign, and why nothing from it is quoted
- [2024-10-09] Talking Points Memo was opened and read in full. It reports a mass text message sent in New York City identifying itself as from a group called "Turn Left," which the piece says is "associated with Richard Ojeda from West Virginia." Ballotpedia confirms this is the same person: Richard Ojeda served in the West Virginia State Senate from 2016 to 2019 and is now the Democratic candidate in North Carolina's 9th District, and Turn Left PAC is among his listed endorsers.
- The piece quotes phrases from the text about AIPAC and U.S. military aid, and it presents them as an example of, in its own framing, florid and traditional antisemitic tropes. It is a critique of the text, not a record of the candidate's position.
- Three separate reasons keep this off the card and keep its phrases out of this record: **(1)** the words are a PAC's, and TPM says only that the PAC is "associated with" him, which is not authorship; **(2)** the sole source is a critical analysis, and this site does not build positions out of hostile characterizations any more than out of friendly ones; **(3)** the specific phrases are the subject of an antisemitism finding by the source itself, so reproducing them under his name would publish that material on this site on the strength of an attribution that has not been established.
- If he holds a position on U.S. military aid, it should be obtainable from him. Nothing here says he does or does not.
Related rhetoric and lobbying
- Covered above. Nothing located in his own words.
Safety and antisemitism (context)
- The only located material in this area is the third-party analysis described above, which concerns a PAC's texts rather than any statement of his.
Consulted
- Ballotpedia (opened); Wikipedia; Talking Points Memo (opened); an unlabelled YouTube short; the Hal Sparks Facebook video. Five sources, two readable.
Also in this race: Richard Hudson (Republican) · All North Carolina 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.