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

Dennis Mahoney

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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.

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.

Nothing located as of September 2026 has Mahoney taking a position on U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel, or on U.S. aid to Palestinians. His platform is about the benefits cliff, housing, neighborhoods, families and generational wealth in Philadelphia.

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Deep Dive

Dennis Mahoney is on the November 3, 2026 ballot in Pennsylvania's 3rd District as the candidate of The Independent Party, and he runs as an independent. The Philadelphia seat is open because Representative Dwight Evans is retiring, and his one opponent is Chris Rabb, the Democratic nominee; no Republican is on the ballot. Mahoney is 34, lives in South Philadelphia and has not run for office before. He has spent a decade in disaster relief, first through his church in Washington, D.C., then with the Christian nonprofit Food for the Hungry, and now through his own firm, AOI Solutions. The Forward Party endorsed him on September 8, 2026. It is a national party founded in 2022 by Andrew Yang and former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, and it supports candidates who seek more independent representation in Congress.

This is an empty record on these questions rather than a thin one. His campaign site sets out five commitments: ending the benefits cliff, so that a raise does not cost a family its benefits; housing; connecting neighborhoods to opportunity; family stability; and generational wealth in Philadelphia. Nothing on the site mentions foreign policy, Israel, Gaza or aid abroad. The Inquirer's September profile of him, Impacto's and the Philadelphia Citizen's general election guide describe the same domestic platform and report nothing from him on the subject. He has not filled in Ballotpedia's candidate survey, and iVoterGuide lists him for this race with no questionnaire. An empty record carries no implication either way.

His campaign's Facebook, Instagram and TikTok accounts could not be read here. Their addresses are on his research page so that anyone who can open them may look.

You are better placed to change this than we are. Ask Mahoney 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 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 2026-09-27) 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 2026-09-24 unless the entry says otherwise. His campaign site was read in full: the home page, the platform pages, the about page, the neighborhoods, promises, press, endorsements and "How We Run" pages, in English. Bands: Position (2024-01-26 onward), Reaction window (2023-10-07 to 2024-01-25), Earlier record (before 2023-10-07), Undated. Mahoney 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 on those subjects appears on his campaign site, in the Philadelphia Inquirer's, Impacto's or the Philadelphia Citizen's reporting on his campaign, in the Forward Party's endorsement, or on his Ballotpedia and iVoterGuide pages.

U.S. aid to Palestinians

Nothing located, at any date. His career is in disaster relief and humanitarian aid, and the accounts of that work read for this card name Puerto Rico, Texas, North Carolina, Jamaica, California, Sudan and Burundi, among other places. None of them mentions Gaza, the West Bank, Palestinians, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency or U.S. humanitarian funding for the region.

Characterization of the conflict

Nothing located, at any date. Impacto's profile of him, published September 11, 2026, quotes him saying "I’ve traveled to dangerous conflict zones in different parts of the world." about his relief work. The article names no conflict and no country in that passage, and it is not a statement about the war in Gaza.

Israel-related rhetoric and lobbying

Nothing located, at any date. No statement by him about the American Israel Public Affairs Committee or any other advocacy organization on this subject was found. His campaign site's page titled "How We Run" says the campaign "belongs to the neighbors who built it" and that its commitments on contributions and lobbyist relationships "will be published here in full as soon as it is ready." It names no organization.

Safety and antisemitism (context, not an answer to what America sends)

Nothing located, at any date.

What his campaign site and own pages say

[Undated; read 2026-09-24] His campaign site carries the line "Service before politics. Neighborhoods before parties." and a platform under the headings Reward Work, Restore Stability and Build Wealth, with five commitments: "End the Benefits Cliff", "Housing Is Economic Infrastructure", "Connect Every Neighborhood to Opportunity", "Strengthen Families and Community Stability" and "Build Generational Wealth in Philadelphia". The first reads: "No family should become poorer because they started earning more." Its list of issues is "Housing. Workforce. Transportation. Healthcare. Food access. Education. Digital connectivity. Public safety. Wealth-building." The about section says he has spent his life convening businesses, nonprofits, faith communities and civic leaders "overseas, across the United States, and in his own backyard of Philadelphia", and that "His career in disaster relief and long-term development shaped a single mindset". The neighborhoods page describes ten parts of the district. The press page carries no statements yet. The site also has Spanish and Haitian Creole versions of the same text. The words Israel, Gaza, Palestinian, foreign policy, military, weapon and war appear nowhere on it. None of the pages carries a date, so the site is recorded on the date it was read.
[Read 2026-09-24] His Ballotpedia page lists him as "Dennis Mahoney (Independent Party)" and says he has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey. It links his campaign site and his campaign's Facebook, Instagram and TikTok accounts.
[Read 2026-09-24] iVoterGuide's page for this race lists "Dennis Mahoney" as "Independent | PA" and Chris Rabb, with website links only and no questionnaire answers for either candidate.

Reporting on his campaign

[Position, 2026-09-10] The Philadelphia Inquirer's profile by Fallon Roth, published September 10, 2026: he "has spent a decade in disaster relief, dispatching humanitarian aid in the wake of devastating hurricanes in the United States and Puerto Rico and poverty crises in 18 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America." It reports that he is 34, from South Philadelphia, a first-time candidate who has belonged to both parties, and that he worked in humanitarian aid "through his former Washington, D.C., church, the Christian nonprofit Food for the Hungry, and now his own firm, AOI Solutions." It says: "Mahoney’s platform focuses on addressing poverty, expanding access to affordable housing, and investing in education." It reports that he would help form an independent caucus in the House, that he collected 19,000 petition signatures and that he would like to debate Rabb. It reports that the Forward Party Victory Fund, a Philadelphia-based super PAC led by Craig Snyder, plans to support him with digital ads and text messages, and quotes Snyder describing the candidates it backs as both "anti-MAGA" and "anti-DSA"; those are Snyder's words, not Mahoney's. The Inquirer's morning newsletter of the same day summarizes the same story. Neither mentions Israel, Gaza or foreign policy.
[Position, 2026-09-11] Impacto's profile by Aleida García, published September 11, 2026, reports that his central issue is poverty and his signature proposal is ending the benefits cliff, and it covers tangled titles, federal money he says Philadelphia has left unclaimed, and neighborhood advisory groups. It reports his account of watching immigration agents detain a man in South Philadelphia in March. It quotes him: "I don’t feel like I left a political party," and "I feel like both political parties left me." It describes his relief work after hurricanes in Texas, Puerto Rico, North Carolina and Jamaica and wildfires in California, and his firm's work "from Jamaica to Sudan". It reports that the Forward Party has endorsed him. Nothing in it concerns Israel or Gaza.
[Position, published 2026-09-18, updated 2026-09-21] The Philadelphia Citizen's general election guide, by Courtney Duchene and Lauren McCutcheon, read under his own heading in the 3rd District section: he is the founder of AOI Solutions, "a disaster relief and international development organization", holds two master's degrees from Penn, and has a "five-pronged platform" on the benefits cliff, affordable housing, neighborhood services, child- and family-centered programs and generational wealth. It says he is a leader within Epic Church and that "The super PAC the Forward Party Victory Fund, a PA offshoot of the Forward Party, is his campaign’s main benefactor." It carries nothing from him on Israel or Gaza.
[Position, 2026-09-08] The Forward Party's press release announcing its endorsement, dated September 8, 2026, describes him as the founder of AOI Solutions, "a firm focused on disaster relief and humanitarian response", and quotes the party's chief executive, Lindsey Drath. It carries no statement of his and nothing on foreign policy. The Forward Party describes itself as bringing "moderates, conservatives, and progressives together"; the Inquirer reports it was founded in 2022 by Andrew Yang and former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman.

The race

[Read 2026-09-24] Ballotpedia's page for the 2026 election in Pennsylvania's 3rd District: "Christopher Rabb and Dennis Mahoney are running in the general election for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 3 on November 3, 2026." Rabb won the Democratic primary on May 19, 2026 over Sharif Street, Ala Stanford and Shaun Griffith. No candidate appeared on the Republican primary ballot. Dwight Evans is listed among the withdrawn Democratic candidates.
[Read 2026-09-24] The Committee of Seventy's voter guide page for the U.S. House lists "Chris Rabb (Democrat)" and "Dennis Mahoney (Independent)" for PA Congressional District 3. The Green Papers' Pennsylvania page lists him as "Dennis Joseph Mahoney", Independent, "The Independent Party", and also lists a write-in candidate, Abby Tilsner of the Socialist Workers Party, whose name will not be printed on the ballot.

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

His campaign's Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61591219070719 , titled "Dennis Mahoney for Congress". Ballotpedia labels it his campaign's Facebook account. Only its title opens.
His campaign's Instagram account, https://www.instagram.com/mahoneyforcongress/ , and TikTok account, https://www.tiktok.com/@mahoneyforcongress , which return no readable posts.
The endorsements list on his campaign site, which loads separately from the site's text and was not read.
The Committee of Seventy's interactive voter guide, which carries candidates' questionnaire answers and works only by address lookup, and the League of Women Voters guide, VOTE411, which works the same way. Neither was read for this card.
A Committee of Seventy page offered for him, https://seventy.org/voter-guide/governor-of-pa/dennis , which returns a "Page Not Found" error on every attempt.

Not on the card, and why

His positions on the benefits cliff, housing, transit, childcare, food assistance, schools, tangled titles and immigration enforcement: out of scope, listed above so the absence can be checked.
The Forward Party Victory Fund's support for him and Craig Snyder's description of the candidates it backs: about his campaign's allies, not about what the United States sends. Recorded above.
His remark about having traveled to conflict zones: about his relief work, naming no conflict. Recorded above.
Chris Rabb's record. It belongs on his own card.

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

https://mahoneyforcongress.com/ (opened; 2026-09-24; all pages)
https://ballotpedia.org/Dennis_Mahoney_(Pennsylvania) (opened; 2026-09-24)
https://ballotpedia.org/Pennsylvania%27s_3rd_Congressional_District_election,_2026 (opened; 2026-09-24)
https://ivoterguide.com/race/32994/election/1477 (opened; 2026-09-24)
https://www.inquirer.com/politics/nation/3rd-district-election-dennis-mahoney-20260910.html (opened; 2026-09-24; published 2026-09-10)
https://www.inquirer.com/newsletters/morning/chris-rabb-philly-politics-independent-mahoney-third-district-20260910.html (opened; 2026-09-24; published 2026-09-10)
https://www.impactomedia.com/region/building-hope-not-division-dennis-mahoney-seeks-to-represent-pennsylvanias-third-district-as-an-independent-candidate/ (opened; 2026-09-24; published 2026-09-11)
https://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/pa-election-guide/ (opened; 2026-09-24; published 2026-09-18, updated 2026-09-21)
https://www.forwardparty.com/media/press_release/forward-party-endorses-independent-congressional-candidate-dennis-mahoney-in-pennsylvania-congressional-district-03/ (opened; 2026-09-24; published 2026-09-08)
https://seventy.org/get-informed/voter-guide/us-house-of-representatives/ (opened; 2026-09-24)
https://www.thegreenpapers.com/G26/PA (opened; 2026-09-24)
https://seventy.org/voter-guide/governor-of-pa/dennis (could not open; 2026-09-24; not found)
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61591219070719 (title only; 2026-09-24)
https://www.instagram.com/mahoneyforcongress/ and https://www.tiktok.com/@mahoneyforcongress (opened, no readable posts; 2026-09-24)
This is a record of what was checked on 2026-09-24, not a claim that no statement exists anywhere.

Also in this race

✓ Chris Rabb (Democrat)

All Pennsylvania candidates.