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

Austin Nieves

Independent · U.S. House, Oklahoma District 5
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Nothing located as of September 2026 has Nieves taking a position on U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel, or on U.S. aid to Palestinians. He has no campaign site, and the only account of his positions is about the economy.

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Deep Dive

Austin Nieves is an independent candidate in Oklahoma's 5th District, which takes in most of Oklahoma City, all of Lincoln, Pottawatomie and Seminole counties, and parts of Logan and Canadian counties. He lives in Oklahoma City, took a business degree and an MBA at the University of Central Oklahoma and has taught there as an adjunct instructor, and he is described in the published accounts of him as an accountant and the founder of his own business. Independents in Oklahoma do not run in primaries. He reached the November ballot by filing with the State Election Board during the April 1 to 3, 2026 filing period, which is the one route to the general election for a candidate with no party. He faces Representative Stephanie Bice, Jena Nelson and Robert P. Henri on November 3, 2026. He has never held office, so none of the congressional votes this site tracks is his. He also filed as an independent in the 4th District in 2024 and did not reach that year's general election ballot.

This is an empty record on these questions rather than a thin one, and it is close to an empty record on every question. He has no campaign website; the only site listed for him anywhere is a film and television credits page. He has not completed a candidate survey in either of the two cycles he has filed in, and he has reported no money raised in either. The one document that sets out positions for him is the League of Women Voters of Oklahoma's guide to the November election, which wrote its account from publicly available material, and its whole entry on him is a single sentence about an economic plan: redesigning the twenty dollar bill, raising the tax on ammunition, and encouraging bipartisan cooperation and curiosity. Nothing in it, and nothing anywhere else under his name, reaches Israel, Gaza, Palestinians, weapons, foreign aid or foreign policy of any kind. An empty record carries no implication either way.

His accounts on Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn are listed as his by Ballotpedia. None of them opened here, and the credits page did not either. Their addresses are on his research page so that anyone who can open them may look, and since the League found enough about him somewhere to write its sentence, they are the likeliest place it came from.

You are better placed to change this than we are. Ask Nieves directly, or at a candidate forum, and send us the reply: it goes on this page in his own words, which is worth more than anything we could write about him.

The record

Notable actions

• He has published no positions on any subject. His candidate profile records, in terms, that there are no public positions on file for him and that he has not claimed the page; his only campaign presence listed anywhere is a personal Facebook account, and he has no campaign website. There is therefore nothing under his name, on this question or any other, to weigh.

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.

See a dash? Ask the candidate where they stand, then send us their answer and we'll review it and update the mark. Or volunteer to help review candidates.

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

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 2026-07-13) from the five lobbying groups we track; earlier cycles and earmarked donations not yet tracked.
Support-only OpenFEC data. Opposition independent expenditures are excluded.

Research log

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 2026-09-22 unless the entry says otherwise. He has no campaign website, so the own-site check ran instead against the six addresses listed for him, the statewide candidate guides that cover this race, the official filing record, and the news coverage of the district. Bands: Position (2024-01-26 onward), Reaction window (2023-10-07 to 2024-01-25), Earlier record (before 2023-10-07), Undated. He 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.

U.S. military aid and weapons to the government of Israel

  • Nothing located, at any date. No statement by him about arms transfers, weapons shipments, Foreign Military Financing, security assistance or any bill or amendment on those subjects appears in the League of Women Voters guide's account of him, on his Ballotpedia page for either of the two cycles it covers, in the Oklahoma State Election Board's filing record, in The Oklahoma Constitution's survey of the congressional races, in KOSU's list of everyone who filed, in NonDoc's report of the filing period, on Politics1's Oklahoma page, on his aggregator profiles, or in any news report about this district that could be found.

U.S. aid to Palestinians

  • Nothing located, at any date. Neither the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, nor humanitarian funding for Gaza, nor the aid pipeline appears in anything published by him or about him.

Characterization of the conflict

  • Nothing located, at any date. The words Israel, Gaza, Palestinian, Hamas and Middle East appear nowhere in any source read for this card that concerns him.

Israel-related rhetoric and lobbying

  • Nothing located, at any date. No statement by him about the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, about any other advocacy organization on this subject, or about money connected to any of them was found. He has raised no money at all: Ballotpedia records $0 in contributions for his 2026 candidacy and $0 for his 2024 one.

Safety and antisemitism

  • Nothing located, at any date. Nothing published by him or about him addresses antisemitism or the safety of any religious community.

What the campaign site and own pages say

  • He has no campaign website. The address Ballotpedia files under "Personal website" is a film and television credits page, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm11114243/ , which did not open here. His five other listed addresses are personal accounts, set out below.
  • [Position, read 2026-09-22] The League of Women Voters of Oklahoma's 2026 voter guide is the only published document that sets out positions for him. Under DISTRICT 5 and under his own heading, "Austin Nieves (I)", it gives his age as 31, his home as Oklahoma City, his education as "BS and MBA, UCO (2018 and 2021)" and his occupation as "Founder, Nieves DC (2022–present) • Adjunct Instructor, UCO (2019–present)", and then, under POSITIONS, one sentence: "Supports a new economic plan that includes redesigning the $20 bill, increasing the ammunition tax, and encouraging bipartisan cooperation and curiosity." It is the shortest entry for any congressional candidate in the guide. The guide states its own method on its last page: "The candidate research is based on publicly available information including campaign websites, social media, public events, and media statements." So this is the League's summary of what it could find about him, not an answer he wrote. The same sentence appears identically in the guide's printed edition on page 9. The guide's summaries do reach U.S. military aid where a candidate in this election has taken a position on it, so its silence about Nieves on that subject is not a limit of what the guide covers.
  • [Read 2026-09-22] His Ballotpedia page carries no campaign themes for either cycle: "Austin Nieves has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey" and "Austin Nieves did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey." It lists no endorsements. Its whole account of him is one sentence: "Austin Nieves (independent) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Oklahoma's 5th Congressional District. He is on the ballot in the general election on November 3, 2026." Its finance table records $0 in contributions for 2026 and $0 for 2024, with expenditure data unavailable for both.
  • [Undated; read 2026-09-22] The Oklahoma Constitution's survey of the state's congressional races gives the fullest biography of him anywhere: "Austin Nieves, 30, of Oklahoma City is a dancer, performer, accountant, animal rescuer, inventor, and an Aero-Hydro-Solar Mechanic. He has also served as an adjunct instructor at the University of Central Oklahoma where he received a business degree and MBA." It records no position of his on anything. Its age of 30 differs by one from the League guide's 31; the two publications are months apart and the difference is noted rather than resolved.
  • [Undated; read 2026-09-22] Politics1's Oklahoma page lists him as "Austin Nieves (I) - Accountant & Businessman", with no campaign-site link beside his name where it prints one for others.
  • [Read 2026-09-22] The Candidate, an aggregator listing, carries an unclaimed page for him built from his Federal Election Commission registration. Under the heading Issue positions it reads: "No public positions on file for NIEVES, AUSTIN yet." That sentence is the listing describing its own database, not a statement by him, and it is recorded here as such. The page also gives his Federal Election Commission candidate identifier as H4OK04176, which is the number issued for his 2024 filing in the 4th District.
  • [Read 2026-09-22] iVoterGuide's Oklahoma guide lists him by name and party with a photograph and one link, to his Facebook page. It carries no answers from him, and its questionnaire asks nothing about this subject in any case.

The race

  • [Read 2026-09-22] Ballotpedia's page for the 2026 election in Oklahoma's 5th District: "Incumbent Stephanie Bice, Jena Nelson, Robert Henri, and Austin Nieves are running in the general election for U.S. House Oklahoma District 5 on November 3, 2026." His own Ballotpedia page carries the same sentence with party labels: "Incumbent Stephanie Bice (R), Jena Nelson (D), Robert Henri (Independent), and Austin Nieves (Independent) are running in the general election for U.S. House Oklahoma District 5 on November 3, 2026." The page records the filing deadline as April 3, 2026, the primary as June 16, 2026 and the primary runoff as August 25, 2026. Neither contest in this district reached the runoff: Jena Nelson defeated Trey Martin in the Democratic primary on June 16, 2026 with 56.7 percent, 26,886 votes to 20,491, a result recorded as certified, and the Republican primary was canceled, with Stephanie Bice advancing without appearing on a ballot.
  • [Read 2026-09-22] The Oklahoma State Election Board's list of candidates for elective office, 2026, headed "Filed in the office of the State Election Board April 1-3, 2026" and compiled as of 5:00 p.m. on April 3, 2026, lists him under DISTRICT 05 as one of two entries under Independent, filing number 00555. That filing is how he reached the November ballot; Oklahoma's June primary and August runoff are party contests, and a candidate with no party does not appear in them.
  • [Read 2026-09-22] His Ballotpedia page also records an earlier candidacy: he filed as an independent in Oklahoma's 4th District in 2024 and appears there under "Withdrawn or disqualified candidates", so he was not on that year's general election ballot, which Tom Cole won on November 5, 2024. His finance table records that 2024 candidacy with the status "Withdrew general".
  • [Position, 2026-04-04] NonDoc's report on the close of filing records only that "Independent candidates Robert P. Henri and Austin Nieves also filed for CD 5." The page's own metadata gives 2026-04-04 as the publication time; its address carries April 3.
  • [Position, 2026-04-08, updated 2026-06-18] KOSU's list of everyone running for Congress in Oklahoma (https://www.kosu.org/oklahoma-congressional-races-2026 ) names him once, in its District 5 list: "Independent: Robert P. Henri, Austin Nieves". Its paragraph on the district describes the incumbent and the Democratic candidates and says nothing about him. The same list was republished by the Tulsa Flyer on April 8, 2026 and adds nothing.

Places that could not be read, so nothing is claimed from them

  • His accounts, all listed as his by Ballotpedia and the first of them given as his by iVoterGuide as well: https://www.facebook.com/austinpnieves , https://x.com/HiddenDigimon , https://www.instagram.com/profpoptart/ , https://www.youtube.com/@AustinPNieves and https://www.linkedin.com/in/austin-nieves-503795b0/ . None could be opened. Their addresses are printed rather than linked because they do not open here.
  • https://www.imdb.com/name/nm11114243/ , the film and television credits page Ballotpedia files as his personal website. It could not be opened, so neither its contents nor the identity it carries was read here.
  • https://www.civoren.com/candidate/austin-nieves was not located; the aggregator pages that do exist for him are listed above.

Not on the card, and why

  • The League of Women Voters guide's sentence about redesigning the twenty dollar bill, raising the ammunition tax and encouraging bipartisan cooperation. It is the guide's own summary rather than his words, and none of it is about U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel, or about U.S. aid to Palestinians. It is quoted in full on this page.
  • The sentence "No public positions on file for NIEVES, AUSTIN yet." It is an aggregator describing the state of its own database, not something he said, and it is not treated as a statement by him anywhere on this card.
  • The biographical descriptions of him, which differ between publications: dancer, performer, accountant, animal rescuer, inventor and mechanic in one; founder of a business and adjunct instructor in another; accountant and businessman in a third. Biography, not a position on this question, and they are set out above with their sources so a reader can see the differences.
  • Stephanie Bice's, Jena Nelson's and Robert P. Henri's records: they belong on their own cards.

Sources retrieved for this card (address; opened or could not open; date)

  • https://www.okvoterguide.com/us-house-candidates/ and https://www.okvoterguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/VG26_Guide_English-2.pdf (opened; 2026-09-22)
  • https://ballotpedia.org/Austin_Nieves (opened; 2026-09-22)
  • https://ballotpedia.org/Oklahoma%27s_5th_Congressional_District_election,_2026 (opened; 2026-09-22)
  • https://ballotpedia.org/Oklahoma%27s_4th_Congressional_District_election,_2026 (opened; 2026-09-22; read for his 2024 filing)
  • https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/en/elections/candidate-filing-archives/2026-candidate-filing-archives/2026-candidate-list-book.pdf (opened; 2026-09-22; compiled 2026-04-03)
  • https://filings.okelections.gov/ViewCandidates/2026040120260403/99/all (opened; 2026-09-22; the State Election Board's filing portal, which gives the filing date range 4/1/2026 to 4/3/2026 and 611 filings but returns its candidate table only to a reader who can run its scripts)
  • https://oklahomaconstitution.com/ns.php?nid=1501 (opened; 2026-09-22; the page carries no date)
  • https://thecandidate.com/candidates/austin-nieves-ok-house-05 (opened; 2026-09-22)
  • https://politics1.com/ok.htm (opened; 2026-09-22)
  • https://nondoc.com/2026/04/03/statewide-federal-races-15-file-for-governor-oklahoma-auditor-wins-by-default/ (opened; 2026-09-22; published 2026-04-04 by the page's own metadata)
  • https://www.kosu.org/oklahoma-congressional-races-2026 (opened; 2026-09-22; published 2026-04-08, updated 2026-06-18)
  • https://tulsaflyer.org/2026/04/08/government/post/running-for-congress-oklahoma/ (opened; 2026-09-22; the same list republished)
  • https://ivoterguide.com/voter-guide/state/ok (opened; 2026-09-22)
  • https://www.imdb.com/name/nm11114243/ (could not open; 2026-09-22)
  • https://www.facebook.com/austinpnieves (could not open; 2026-09-22)
  • https://x.com/HiddenDigimon (could not open; 2026-09-22)
  • https://www.instagram.com/profpoptart/ (could not open; 2026-09-22)
  • https://www.youtube.com/@AustinPNieves (could not open; 2026-09-22)
  • https://www.linkedin.com/in/austin-nieves-503795b0/ (could not open; 2026-09-22)
  • https://www.dovernow.com/post/town-council-primary-candidates-2026-austin-nieves (not used; 2026-09-22; a different person of the same name in New Jersey)
  • This is a record of what was checked on 2026-09-22, not a claim that no statement exists anywhere.

Also in this race

  1. ✗ Stephanie Bice (Republican)
  2. ? Jena Nelson (Democrat)
  3. – Robert P. Henri (Independent)

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.