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

Tina Kotek

Democrat · Governor, Oregon
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When students occupied a library demanding Portland State divest from Israeli businesses and U.S. suppliers, Kotek said the line between protest and property damage had been crossed. She took no position on the demand, and none on U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel was located.

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Deep Dive

Kotek is Oregon's governor and the Democratic nominee for a second term. She has never held federal office, so none of the congressional votes this site tracks are hers, and the questions this site asks about weapons and appropriations are not decided in her office.

The episode that put her near the subject was on her own ground. In late April and early May 2024 demonstrators at Portland State University set up an encampment and occupied the Millar Library. Oregon Public Broadcasting records that they were protesting the war in Gaza and demanding the university divest from Israeli businesses and from U.S. companies supplying equipment used by Israel.

At a press conference that Friday she drew a line and said it had been crossed: "As your governor, I understand that there is a clear line between exercising free speech and peaceful protest, and discriminatory harassment, violence and property damage. That line was crossed this week and law enforcement authorities appropriately intervened." In a written statement the same week she named the university library among the places vandalized: "I have absolutely no tolerance for discriminatory harassment, violence, or property damage." She addressed how the protest was handled. She did not address what it was demanding.

On the federal question, nothing was located. No statement of hers was found on U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel, on conditioning that aid, on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees or the aid pipeline into Gaza, or on Oregon's own pension investments and Israel bond holdings. If you want her position on what the United States sends, you are better placed to get it than we are: ask Kotek directly and send us the reply. It goes on this page in her own words.

The record

Notable actions

• 2023-10-09: As governor, Kotek publicly condemned the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and pledged solidarity with Oregon's Jewish community; her remarks were also read aloud at an Oct. 9, 2023 interfaith solidarity gathering at Congregation Neveh Shalom in Portland organized by the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland.

• Late April–May 2024: Kotek responded to the pro-Palestinian encampment and Millar Library occupation at Portland State University, where protesters demanded PSU divest from Israeli businesses and U.S. suppliers to Israel, by saying she had spoken with PSU President Ann Cudd and supported the university's handling of the protests, backing nonviolent free expression while opposing discriminatory harassment, violence, and property damage.

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.

In their words

“As your governor, I understand that there is a clear line between exercising free speech and peaceful protest, and discriminatory harassment, violence and property damage. That line was crossed this week and law enforcement authorities appropriately intervened.”
Source ↗, 2024-05-03
“I have absolutely no tolerance for discriminatory harassment, violence, or property damage.”
Source ↗, 2024-05-03

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

  • Nothing located, in any band. This record searched specifically for a statement by her on U.S. aid or weapons, on conditioning, on Gaza leverage, on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, on boycott law, on Israel bonds and on pension divestment, and found none. A fresh search of the open record in August 2026 found none either, and reached the same conclusion in its own words: there is no record of her taking a position on U.S. military aid, weapons transfers or defense sales.

U.S. aid to Palestinians

  • Nothing located.

Characterization of the conflict

  • [Reaction window, 2023-10-09] A statement she issued on the attack on Israel, quoted at the time by KOIN, a Portland television station, in two spans the report separates with its own attribution: "The First Lady and I are horrified by the terrorist attack against Israel that happened over the weekend," and "We are deeply saddened that the violence was perpetrated at the end of a Jewish holiday and that thousands of innocent Israelis have been killed, injured, or terrorized." Later in the same report: "Please know that I am resolute in my commitment to stand in partnership with the Jewish community to repel anti-Semitism and promote a safe, welcoming state for every Oregonian. I stand with you against terrorism and in our shared hope for peace and justice everywhere." (KOIN's report on her statement). Not on the card summary: dated inside the reaction window. Corroborated by Willamette Week, which reports that the head of the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland read supportive remarks from her at a solidarity gathering in Portland.
  • Beyond that statement, nothing. She has not been located characterizing the conflict itself.

Related rhetoric and lobbying

  • Nothing located.

State action and campus protest

  • [Position, 2024-05-01] The protest she was responding to: Oregon Public Broadcasting records that demonstrators demanded the university divest from Israeli businesses and from U.S. companies that supply equipment used by Israel, and that the university's president defended free speech while drawing a line at property damage, harassment, intimidation and assault.
  • [Position, 2024-05-03] Her words at a press conference, read and confirmed against Oregon Public Broadcasting: "The criminal activity that has occurred in downtown Portland in the last few days is unacceptable and in direct opposition to Oregon values," and "As your governor, I understand that there is a clear line between exercising free speech and peaceful protest, and discriminatory harassment, violence and property damage. That line was crossed this week and law enforcement authorities appropriately intervened." This replaces the attribution this record first used: the television page it relied on refuses to open, and this one, located by a later search, does.
  • [Position, 2024-05-03] A written statement the same week, carried by a local outlet and confirmed against it: "I have absolutely no tolerance for discriminatory harassment, violence, or property damage." and "This includes the acts of vandalism seen this week at the Portland State University library and against nearby businesses." The outlet separates the spans with its own attribution and they are kept apart here.
  • [Position, 2024-05-02] This record also carries her saying she had spoken with the university's president, Ann Cudd, and supported the university's handling of the situation. The page carrying that, https://www.koin.com/news/protests/portland-psu-protest-city-official-react-kotek-wheeler-day-police-response-gaza-palestine-israel-05022024/ , refuses to open to us, so it is named in plain words rather than linked and nothing from it is quoted.
  • Her response addressed the university's handling and the limits of protest, not the divestment demand, and the card says so.
  • Out of scope, recorded so a reader can see it was considered: her opposition in October 2025 to a National Guard deployment to Portland concerned immigration enforcement protests, not this subject.

Safety and antisemitism (context)

  • [Position, 2024-10-30] Jewish community leaders met her to raise concerns about antisemitism in Oregon. The Jewish Federation of Greater Portland's own column on the meeting says she "was an active listener and is committed to working with the Jewish community to address this challenging issue". Those are the federation's words about her, not hers.
  • [Wrong person, 2025-08-03] A fresh search attributed to her a statement condemning antisemitic vandalism at the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education. The address it cites is the official account of a member of Congress from Oregon, not the governor, and the address itself carries that member's name and the quoted words. Not hers on the evidence offered; excluded and recorded here so it is not repeated.
  • [Unconfirmed, 2025-12-14] The same round reported a further statement of hers on hate incidents. Its carrier is the governor's own social media page and it returns an error to us, so nothing from it is quoted or used.

Race and status context

Also in this race

  1. – Christine Drazan (Republican)
  2. ? Brett Smith (Green)

All Oregon 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.