But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Justin Wagner
Democrat · U.S. House, Pennsylvania District 16
✓Opposes
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: His own platform calls it the genocide of the Palestinian people and opposes sending billions to pariah regimes, with nothing saying weapons should keep flowing. Reviewed by hand on 2026-10-01. This candidate has no recorded tracked floor votes.
Wagner's platform says: "I stand against the genocide of the Palestinian people." He says he will not take money from AIPAC or any other organization acting on behalf of the state of Israel.
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Wagner is the Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania's 16th District.
His campaign platform, read in full on 17 August 2026, sets the position out under a heading of its own, "No to AIPAC. No to Genocide.": "I stand against Israel's expansionist actions across the Middle Eastern states. I stand against the genocide of the Palestinian people, of which the death toll is estimated to be over 75,000."
On the money: "I stand against sending billions of dollars and millions of man-hours to any foreign country while Americans deal with an affordability and inequity crisis unseen since the Gilded Age. That goes especially for countries whose regimes act as regional pariahs." And: "I will not take money or entertain interests from AIPAC, or any other organization acting on behalf of the state of Israel."
The money-refusal pledge is a statement about his own campaign funding, not a vote he has cast; the sentences above it are the position on what the United States sends.
He has no federal voting record.
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 2026-07-23) from the five lobbying groups we track; earlier cycles and earmarked donations not yet tracked.
Support-only OpenFEC data. Opposition independent expenditures are excluded.
✓ Endorsed by Track AIPAC
Track AIPACA watchdog on AIPAC-linked money. It backs candidates who reject AIPAC support and call for an arms embargo and conditions on aid to the government of Israel.These endorsements come from groups that push to restrict or end U.S. weapons transfers to the government of Israel. Endorsements from these groups are shown for information; they do not decide the mark.
In their words
Endorsements
Track AIPAC (2026 endorsement)
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
**CORRECTED 2026-08-17.** His campaign platform is live at justinwagnerforcongress.com/platform and carries all of the reported wording verbatim under the heading "No to AIPAC. No to Genocide." It was read in full on 17 August 2026, and the card now quotes it. Everything below was written when that page could not be found, and is kept so the correction is visible.
**No verified statement.** The research turns up a 2026 campaign platform position against sending billions of dollars and millions of man-hours to any foreign country while Americans face an affordability and inequity crisis, applied to countries whose regimes act as regional pariahs. Summarised, not quoted. **No source for the platform appears in the research.**
He has no federal voting record.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
No statement located.
Characterization of the conflict
[Reported, 2026, unverified] Per the research his platform states: "I stand against Israel's expansionist actions across the Middle Eastern states. I stand against the genocide of the Palestinian people." Recorded as reported. Not quoted as verified, because no source for it exists in the research.
Related rhetoric and lobbying
[Reported, 2026, unverified] Per the research his platform states he "will not take money or entertain interests from AIPAC, or any other organization acting on behalf of the state of Israel." Same status.
Safety and antisemitism (context)
Nothing located; the research records nothing.
⚠ Why nothing here is quoted: all four sources examined
Butler County Democratic Committee page: **opened. It is a stub of roughly 1,400 characters listing party events and candidates, with no platform content of any kind.**
A localcandidates.org positions page: under our standing rule, a localcandidates.org citation cannot support a claim unless the page is rendered and the position confirmed under the subject's own heading, and that host cannot be rendered without JavaScript.
His Facebook page: a profile root rather than a specific post, and not readable.
**His own campaign website does not appear in the research at all.** That is the likely home of the platform being quoted, and finding it is the obvious next step on this record.
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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