But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Joanne Kuniansky
Other · U.S. Senate, New Jersey
✗Supports
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: In a 2025 election-guide answer she says the international working class has "high stakes in Israel’s war to defeat Hamas and prevent another Holocaust", with nothing pointing the other way. Reviewed by hand on 2026-10-09. This candidate has no recorded tracked floor votes.
Joanne Kuniansky, 73, of West New York, is the Socialist Workers Party's nominee for the U.S. Senate in New Jersey. She joined the party in 1977 and has worked as a refinery operator, a meat packer and a deli worker at Walmart. She has been the party's candidate many times, for governor in 2021 and 2025, for the Senate in 2024 and for the state Senate in 2023. On November 3 she faces Senator Cory Booker, the Democrat, Justin Murphy, the Republican, and Veronica Fernandez, an independent. She has never held office, so there are no Senate votes on this record.
Asked by NJ Spotlight News in 2026 whether she supports the war in Iran and federal defense spending, she described two wars: one by "the U.S. rulers" for the region's resources, and "a defensive war by Israel" against Iran's government. She closed with three demands: "U.S. troops out of the Middle East!", "Not one man and not one penny for the U.S. government, its budget, and its war machine." and "Defend Israel’s right to exist as a refuge for Jews!" The answer does not say whether ending that spending would stop U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel, and no statement from her on that question, or on U.S. aid to Palestinians, was found.
On the war in Gaza her position is stated in the answer she gave the same outlet as a candidate for governor in 2025, where she named her top issue: "The international working class has high stakes in Israel’s war to defeat Hamas and prevent another Holocaust. Hamas is the main obstacle to Palestinian national rights." She told WHYY in September 2026 that her priorities include opposing "the U.S. rulers’ blockade and threats against Cuba, and their wars in the Middle East; defending Jews from growing attacks". Her earlier campaign statements are on her research page.
You are better placed to ask her than we are: ask Kuniansky whether her demand covers U.S. weapons and money for the government of Israel, and send us the reply. It goes on this page in her own words.
In their words
“Not one man and not one penny for the U.S. government, its budget, and its war machine.”
“The international working class has high stakes in Israel’s war to defeat Hamas and prevent another Holocaust. Hamas is the main obstacle to Palestinian national rights.”
The notes behind this card: what we looked at, what we found, and where each item came from.
Every page named below was opened and read on 2026-10-05 unless the entry says otherwise. No campaign website for her Senate race was found; Ballotpedia lists none, and her party's newspaper, The Militant, which carries her campaign's statements, could not be opened. Bands: Position (2024-01-26 onward), Reaction window (2023-10-07 to 2024-01-25), Earlier record (before 2023-10-07), Undated. Undated pages are recorded on the date we read them. Kuniansky has never held office, so none of the Senate votes this site tracks is hers, and no funding from the committees this site tracks is recorded on this record.
U.S. military aid and weapons to the government of Israel
Nothing located, at any date, in which she names U.S. weapons, military aid or any appropriation for the government of Israel.
[Position, read 2026-10-05] NJ Spotlight News's 2026 Senate guide, her answer to "Do you support the war in Iran and federal defense spending? If not, what would you change?": "There are two sharply different wars against Iran. An imperialist war by the U.S. rulers to plunder the oil, gas, and labor of the region, extend their domination and deal blows to their competitors. And a defensive war by Israel to prevent the Jew-hating regime in Tehran from developing nuclear weapons and the missiles to launch them to advance the goal they share with Hamas and Hezbollah of destroying Israel and carrying out another Holocaust." It ends with three demands: "U.S. troops out of the Middle East!", "Not one man and not one penny for the U.S. government, its budget, and its war machine." and "Defend Israel’s right to exist as a refuge for Jews!" The demand on spending is about the U.S. government's own budget and does not mention aid to any other government. The page's metadata gives a first publication date of May 13, 2026 and a last revision of September 29, 2026; her answer is not separately dated.
[Position, 2026-06-08] Patch's report on the party's two New Jersey candidates quotes a joint campaign statement from her and Craig Honts calling for "U.S. troops, warships and bases out of the Middle East." It is a joint statement, so it supports only the joint wording.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
Nothing located, at any date.
Characterization of the conflict
[Position, 2025-07-25] NJ Spotlight News's 2025 guide to the governor's race, her answer to "What is your top issue this year?": "The international working class has high stakes in Israel’s war to defeat Hamas and prevent another Holocaust. Hamas is the main obstacle to Palestinian national rights. Under capitalism there can be no safe-haven for Jews." The page was published on July 25, 2025 and last revised on October 31, 2025.
[Position, 2025] Her 2025 ballot statement for governor, filed with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, was read only in its Portuguese translation (https://www.elec.nj.gov/pdffiles/CandidateBallotStatements/Statements_2025/Joanne_Kuniansky_2025/Kuniansky_G2025_por-PT.pdf). In that translation it says it is very important for the international working class to support Israel's forces against Hamas. An English version was not located, so nothing is quoted from it.
[Reaction window, 2024-01-15] Insider NJ published her party's announcement of her 2024 Senate campaign, which lists among "The SWP candidates" positions: "Defend Israel’s right to exist as a refuge for Jews and its war to defeat Hamas. Free the hostages." It is a statement for two candidates, published in the weeks after October 7, 2023, and it stays on this page.
[Reaction window, 2023-11-18] The Militant's report of the November 2023 march in Washington, at https://themilitant.com/2023/11/18/washington-marchers-say-no-to-cease-fire-prevent-more-pogroms/ , which our research said quotes her, could not be read.
Israel-related rhetoric and lobbying
Nothing located, at any date, about the American Israel Public Affairs Committee or any other advocacy organization on this subject.
[Position, 2024-10] CAIR Action's 2024 New Jersey voter guide lists her, as the party's 2024 Senate candidate, as "Opposed". The guide defines that rating as given to candidates who "have taken harmful stances, including supporting the violence in Gaza and opposing a ceasefire." It is an advocacy group's rating of her, not her own words, and it does not say she opposed an arms embargo.
Safety and antisemitism (context, not an answer to what America sends)
[Position, 2026-09-22] WHYY's 2026 Senate guide quotes an email in which she lists her priorities, including opposing "the U.S. rulers’ blockade and threats against Cuba, and their wars in the Middle East; defending Jews from growing attacks; and calling for an amnesty for workers in the U.S. without papers." It reports that she has supported many rallies against antisemitism across the region.
[Position, read 2026-10-05] NJ Spotlight News's 2026 Senate guide gives her top issue as standing with workers, "opposing the US rulers’ blockade and threats against Cuba; defending Jews from growing attack; and calling for an amnesty for workers in the US without papers", and her background as including "actions against Jew-hatred".
[Position, 2024-11-16] The Militant's report on the November 2024 attacks on Israeli football fans in Amsterdam, at https://themilitant.com/2024/11/16/jew-hating-mobs-attack-israeli-fans-after-soccer-game-in-amsterdam/ , which our research said quotes her, could not be read.
[Position, 2025-03-15] The Militant's report "SWP candidate speaks out on Israel's right to exist", at https://themilitant.com/2025/03/15/swp-candidate-speaks-out-on-israels-right-to-exist/ , about a March 2025 protest in Teaneck, could not be read. Our research reported that she carried a sign reading "Join the fight against Jew-hatred! Support Israel's fight to defeat Hamas"; that is not confirmed.
[Earlier record, 2021-07-12] Insider NJ published her campaign's statement for a July 11, 2021 rally in Washington against antisemitism, which says "The Socialist Workers Party calls for unconditional recognition of Israel as a homeland for Jews" and calls the slogan "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" a Hamas slogan.
[Earlier record, 2021] Her 2021 ballot statement for governor, which Ballotpedia also reproduces, says "The SWP calls for unconditional recognition of Israel as a refuge for Jews. We urge unions to protest Jew hatred".
What the campaign site and own pages say
No campaign website was found. Ballotpedia records that she has not completed its 2026 Candidate Connection survey and did not complete it for any race from 2021 to 2025. Her answers to NJ Spotlight News and WHYY, quoted above, are the fullest statements of her 2026 platform that could be read.
The race
[Read 2026-10-05] Ballotpedia: "Incumbent Cory Booker (D), Justin Murphy (R), Veronica Fernandez (End the Corruption! Party), Joanne Kuniansky (Socialist Workers Party), and Eduardo Castillo (D) are running in the general election for U.S. Senate New Jersey on November 3, 2026." Castillo is listed as a write-in. The state's certified list has four names: Booker, Murphy, Fernandez and Kuniansky. WHYY gives her age as 73 and her home as West New York.
[Position, 2026-06-08] Patch reports that she filed about 3,000 signatures for the Senate race, and that she ran for governor in 2021 and 2025, for the U.S. Senate in 2024 and for the state Senate in 2023.
Places that could not be read, so nothing is claimed from them
Four reports in The Militant, the party's newspaper, that our research cited could not be opened: https://themilitant.com/2025/03/15/swp-candidate-speaks-out-on-israels-right-to-exist/ , https://themilitant.com/2024/11/16/jew-hating-mobs-attack-israeli-fans-after-soccer-game-in-amsterdam/ , https://themilitant.com/2024/01/27/swp-campaign-support-union-struggles-fight-antisemitism/ and https://themilitant.com/2023/11/18/washington-marchers-say-no-to-cease-fire-prevent-more-pogroms/ .
Not on the card, and why
Her description of Israel's war with Iran as defensive and of the U.S. part in it as imperialist: Iran is not this card's subject. It is quoted above because it is part of the answer that carries her spending demand.
The January 2024 announcement of her 2024 Senate campaign and the November 2023 march report: dated in the weeks after October 7, 2023, and recorded on this page only.
The 2021 statements: earlier record.
The CAIR Action rating: another organization's judgment of her, not her own words.
Her joint statement with Craig Honts: a joint statement supports only the joint wording.
Her positions on wages, unions, health care, immigration, Cuba and elections: out of scope.
Cory Booker's, Justin Murphy's and Veronica Fernandez's records: they belong on their own cards.
Sources retrieved for this card (address; opened or could not open; date)
https://www.njspotlightnews.org/special-report/2026-primary-u-s-senate/ (opened; 2026-10-05; published 2026-05-13, revised 2026-09-29)
https://www.njspotlightnews.org/special-report/2025-election-guide-governor/ (opened; 2026-10-05; published 2025-07-25, revised 2025-10-31)
https://whyy.org/articles/election-2026-new-jersey-senate-voter-guide-booker/ (opened; 2026-10-05; published 2026-09-22)
https://patch.com/new-jersey/newarknj/2-socialists-launch-congress-bids-nj-kuniansky-honts-hit-campaign-trail (opened; 2026-10-05; published 2026-06-08)
https://www.insidernj.com/kuniansky-running-for-united-states-senate/ (opened; 2026-10-05; published 2024-01-15)
https://www.insidernj.com/press-release/joanne-kuniansky-socialist-workers-party-candidate-governor-new-jersey-joins-no-fear-rally-solidarity-jewish-people-july-11-washington-d-c-calls-unconditional-rec/ (opened; 2026-10-05; published 2021-07-12)
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.