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

Don Kissick

Libertarian · Governor, Ohio
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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.

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No recorded votes on the bills we track. We found nothing in their own words about Israel, Gaza or the war.

Kissick is running on a platform of Ohio issues that does not mention the conflict. As a Senate candidate in 2024 he backed ending all foreign aid, aid to the government of Israel included; asked in 2018 whether the U.S. should help defend Israel from attack, he answered "Neutral".

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Deep Dive

Kissick is the Libertarian nominee for Governor of Ohio, having won the Libertarian primary on May 5, 2026 with running mate James Mills. He served six years in the U.S. Navy and deployed twice to the Middle East during Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and has run before for Ohio's 5th District in 2018 and for the U.S. Senate in 2024.

He has no located statement about Israel specifically. What he has is a blanket position: a 2024 Oberlin Review voter guide records a platform of strict non-interventionism that calls for ending all foreign aid. Aid to the government of Israel falls inside that, but the position is not aimed at it.

A 2018 iVoterGuide survey, on which he used the full range of answers, asked whether the United States should help defend Israel from attack by its enemies, and he selected "Neutral". A 2024 iVoterGuide survey records no answer from him to any of its questions, so it says nothing about his view.

Governors do not vote on foreign aid. His 2026 campaign platform covers data centers, license-plate cameras, property taxes, corruption, affordability and personal dignity, and we found no statement from him on Israel as a candidate for governor.

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

  • 2024-10-11 [Current position]: A voter guide in The Oberlin Review, published during his U.S. Senate campaign, records a platform of strict non-interventionist foreign policy calling for ending all foreign aid: "Kissick is firm on a non-interventionist foreign policy with the end of all foreign aid". This is a blanket position that necessarily includes aid to the government of Israel; it is not an Israel-specific statement.
  • 2018 [Earlier record; survey response]: In an iVoterGuide candidate survey during his U.S. House campaign, asked whether the United States should help defend Israel from attack by its enemies, he selected "Neutral".
  • 2024 [Current position; survey non-response]: In a later iVoterGuide survey during his Senate campaign, asked whether the U.S. relationship with Israel is important and why, his answer is recorded as "Did not answer". Every question on this form is unanswered, so it says nothing about his view.
  • [Position, read 2026-09-25] His 2026 campaign site's issues page covers data centers, license-plate cameras, property taxes, corruption, economic affordability and personal dignity. It, the home page, the about page and the press releases page say nothing on Israel, Gaza, Palestinians or foreign aid.

Characterization of the conflict

  • Nothing located: no statement in which he characterized the Israel/Palestine conflict was found.

Rhetoric and lobbying

  • 2026-02-20 [Current position]: He and Mills outlined their platform in Lima ahead of the governor's race, as Lima's Hometown Stations reported. That report no longer opens, so it is not linked; nothing on the subject was recorded from it.
  • 2026-05-20 [Current position]: Party candidate page at lp.org. It says nothing on Israel, Gaza, Palestinians or foreign aid (read 2026-09-25).

Safety and antisemitism

  • Nothing located.

Identity and ballot status

What came back empty or unusable

  • No statement located on U.S. aid to Palestinians, UNRWA or Gaza humanitarian funding.
  • No statement located from the 2026 governor campaign itself on this subject; both survey answers and the foreign-aid platform predate it and come from federal races.

Also in this race

  1. – Amy Acton (Democrat)
  2. ✓ Vivek Ramaswamy (Republican)
  3. – Tim Grady (write-in) (Other)

All Ohio 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.