But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Brennan Barrington
Libertarian · U.S. House, Ohio District 15
?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: Answering a 2026 voter-guide question, he says a large proportion of U.S. operations in the Middle East "are made necessary by our relationship with Israel", without saying where he stands on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. Reviewed by hand on 2026-10-09. This candidate has no recorded tracked floor votes.
Brennan Barrington, of central Ohio, is the Libertarian nominee in Ohio's 15th District. He holds an aerospace engineering degree from Ohio State, sits on the Libertarian Party of Ohio's central committee, and ran for the Ohio House in 2024. He advanced from the Libertarian primary on May 5, 2026 and faces Representative Mike Carey, the Republican, and Don Leonard, the Democrat, on November 3; two independents are running as write-in candidates. He has never held office, so there are no votes on this record.
His most direct words on the subject are his answer to iVoterGuide's 2026 question "Is the United States' relationship with Israel important, and if so why?": "No. Israel's main strategic use is as a base of operations in the Middle East, but a large proportion of US operations in the Middle East are made necessary by our relationship with Israel." He adds that other countries in the region allow U.S. bases "for such operations (which we should not be doing)", and that as a trade partner "Israel is minor, at the level of Indonesia or Colombia." On the same form he chose the view that the United States should stay out of foreign conflicts completely, and he answered nearly every other question at length.
“No. Israel's main strategic use is as a base of operations in the Middle East, but a large proportion of US operations in the Middle East are made necessary by our relationship with Israel.”
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 2026-10-08 unless the entry says otherwise. His campaign site, barrington.lpo.org, was read in full: all ten of its pages and all seven of its posts. 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. Barrington has never held office, so none of the congressional votes this site tracks is his, and no funding from the committees this site tracks is recorded on this record. Nothing located on this subject falls in the reaction window.
U.S. military aid and weapons to the government of Israel
Nothing located that names U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel, at any date.
[Position, read 2026-10-08] His platform, under "Stop the Wars; Cut the Military-Industrial Complex": "Such crimes are made possible by an American military budget that far exceeds what is necessary for homeland defense and, given the persistent inability of the Pentagon to pass an audit, is undoubtedly riddled with waste and abuse. Europe refuses to take responsibility for its own defense because of our implicit subsidies, while the national debt which has arisen from this spending becomes a greater threat than China to national security. In Congress, I would vote against any military spending which has a purpose other than protecting American citizens who are on American soil." The same section would add a rider to the next Defense budget prohibiting "any initiation of military operations in another country’s territory" not specifically authorized by Congress, and proposes a constitutional amendment requiring a joint resolution for military operations against, or military presence in, any other country. The page names no country receiving U.S. military aid. (The page was first posted on August 26, 2026 and last modified on September 27, 2026.)
[Position, read 2026-10-08] His iVoterGuide profile lists, second among his priorities for eliminating government waste, "Defense" spending "for the purpose of projecting force rather than directly protecting American citizens on American soil".
U.S. aid to Palestinians
Nothing located, at any date.
Characterization of the conflict
Nothing located about the war in Gaza, at any date.
[Position, read 2026-10-08] His iVoterGuide profile for the November 3, 2026 general election, answering "Is the United States' relationship with Israel important, and if so why?": "No. Israel's main strategic use is as a base of operations in the Middle East, but a large proportion of US operations in the Middle East are made necessary by our relationship with Israel. In any event, there are other countries (those recently targeted by Iran) there which allow their use as bases for such operations (which we should not be doing). As a trade partner, Israel is minor, at the level of Indonesia or Colombia." The page gives no submission date. On the foreign policy question on the same form he chose "D", that the United States should stay out of foreign conflicts completely, adding: "If A were effective, I would agree with it. However, the history of US interventions in the last few decades, particularly unilateral US interventions, has been one of extremely high costs, and results ranging from dubious success to utter failure." He answered all but one of the form's questions, most with an explanation.
Israel-related rhetoric and lobbying
Nothing located, at any date.
Safety and antisemitism
Nothing located, at any date.
What the campaign site and own pages say
[Read 2026-10-08] His platform runs to fourteen sections, from electoral reform and the cost of living to immigration, taxation and accountability for the President. Its only reference to Israel is in a separate page on electoral reform, which cites Israel and Italy as countries where proportional representation has made coalitions hard to form; that is about election systems, not about U.S. policy. Its cost-of-living section calls the war on Iran "unconstitutional and unnecessary".
[2026-08-17] His Ballotpedia Candidate Connection answers, submitted August 17, 2026, set out three key messages (cutting taxes, spending and regulation; electoral reform; taxing "nonproductive extraction") and contain nothing on these questions. He names 9/11 as the first event he remembers and says the response to it made him suspicious of the "War on Terror".
[Read 2026-10-08] Ballotpedia: "Incumbent Mike Carey (R), Don Leonard (D), Brennan Barrington (L), Gary Josephson (Independent), and Samuel Ronan (Independent) are running in the general election for U.S. House Ohio District 15 on November 3, 2026." Josephson and Ronan are listed as write-in candidates.
[2026-08-06 to 2026-08-09] A Hart Research Associates survey of the district, 401 likely voters, names him as the Libertarian in its ballot question. Its message-testing items are about other candidates; nothing in it is said by him or about his views.
Places that could not be read, so nothing is claimed from them
His campaign Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61593254168932 and X account https://x.com/Barrington4OH15 , as listed by Ballotpedia.
Not on the card, and why
His electoral-reform comparison with Israel and Italy: about election systems, not about what the United States sends.
His statements on the war with Iran and the Caribbean boat strikes: outside the question this card answers.
The Hart Research survey: not his words.
Sources retrieved for this card (address; opened or could not open; date)
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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