Ken Block

Deep Dive

Ken Block is a Barrington software engineer and data analyst who founded the Moderate Party of Rhode Island, ran for governor in 2010 under its banner and again in 2014 in the Republican primary, and is running this time as an independent. He is on the November 3, 2026 ballot with no party affiliation. His campaign is about the machinery of the state: suspending the truck toll program, cutting charges buried in utility bills, and reviewing every state agency, with plans published on hospital billing and on a 25 percent cut in electric bills. He is also known for work on election data, including an analysis of fraud claims after the 2020 presidential election and a book about it published in 2024.

On the question this site asks, the record is empty rather than thin. All thirteen pages of his campaign site were read, about 6,800 words, and the words Israel, Gaza, Palestinian, Hamas and foreign aid appear in none of them. Neither does foreign policy of any kind. Ballotpedia's page for him carries no answers to its candidate questionnaire. His own site is unusually direct about what it will not cover: a section on social and cultural issues says that debates over subjects such as abortion and firearms will continue for decades while the state's problems need immediate attention. It names those two subjects and does not mention this one. An empty record carries no implication either way, and a governor casts no federal votes on any of this.

One item found does touch the subject, and it is twelve years old, thin and unconfirmed. It is set out with its address on his research page, along with what could not be read here and a note about other people who share his name.

You are better placed to change this than we are. Ask Block 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.

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 2026-09-20 unless the entry says otherwise. His campaign site was read in full, all thirteen pages of it. 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 there is no voting record on this card, and the committees this site tracks do not cover a state office, so there is no funding record either.

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

• Nothing located, at any date. No statement of his about arms transfers, weapons shipments, Foreign Military Financing, the memorandum of understanding, security assistance, a dollar figure, a condition on aid, or any bill or amendment on those subjects appears on his campaign site, on his Ballotpedia page, in his campaign's press releases, or in any report of his campaign read for this card.

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 anywhere in his published material.

Characterization of the conflict

• Nothing located, at any date, in his own words. He has not been found using the words genocide, apartheid, self-defense or terrorism about the war in Gaza, and nothing of his was found on Palestinian statehood, a two-state framework or territorial boundaries. A case-insensitive search of the whole of his campaign site, thirteen pages and about 6,800 words, returns no match for israel, gaza, palestin, hamas, antisemit, jewish, zionis, aipac, unrwa, foreign aid, foreign policy, military aid, middle east, netanyahu, two-state, genocide, weapon or arms sale.
• [Earlier record, 2014-08-25] The one item located that touches this subject at all, and it is an attendance, not a statement. Uprise RI published a video, "Solidarity for Israel: Voices Unite in Rhode Island", on August 25, 2014, running 7 minutes 33 seconds, about a gathering of more than 400 people in Rhode Island during that summer's fighting in Gaza. The description the publisher wrote for it lists those present and includes his name among them: "The event, attended by prominent local figures including Council President Michael Solomon, Mary Ross, Brett Smiley, Ken Block". Three limits, all of which matter. The video was not watched here, so this rests on the description alone. That description misnames at least two of the other people it lists, giving the state's attorney general and one of the senators names that do not match who held those offices, so it is a reported account rather than a confirmed one. And nothing in it records him speaking, so even taken at face value it establishes that he was in a room in 2014, not anything he has said about what the United States sends or funds. Nothing is read into it on the card.

Related rhetoric and lobbying

• Nothing located, at any date. Nothing that could be read here has him naming the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, any other advocacy organization working on this subject, or money connected to any of them. The one endorsement Ballotpedia records for him is from a voting group organized around taxing artificial intelligence.
• [Position, read 2026-09-20] His own site sets out what his campaign will not take up. Under a heading on social and cultural issues it says he "does not intend to impose his own beliefs on others", and that "Although many single-issue voters understandably want to know a candidate's position on every subject, the reality is that debates over topics such as abortion and firearms will likely continue for decades." The two subjects it names are abortion and firearms. It does not mention foreign policy, Israel, Gaza or aid, and nothing here is treated as a refusal to answer this site's question, which nobody is recorded as having put to him.

Safety and antisemitism (context, not a position on what America sends)

• [Earlier record, 2014-08-24] During the 2014 Republican primary, his opponent's campaign accused his campaign of comparing that opponent's supporters to Nazis over an image posted online by a donor. PolitiFact Rhode Island examined the claim and found no evidence that anyone with authority in his campaign created or posted it; his campaign manager said the posting was tasteless and rejected the idea that the campaign would make such comparisons, and noted Block's own religion in doing so. Those are a spokesman's words in a dispute about a campaign image, twelve years old, and not a statement about the war or about what the United States sends or funds.
• A note on his religion, because Ballotpedia records it in its own summary box: it is a fact about him and not a position, and nothing on this card rests on it or is inferred from it.

What the campaign site and his own pages say

• [Position, read 2026-09-20] His campaign site was read in full: the home page, about, issues, a video page, media and press, campaign appearances, poll results, volunteer and donate pages, and five further pages his press page links, on the Second Amendment, hospital billing, a utility bill plan, truck tolls and a poll release, together with three press releases. About 6,800 words in all. There is no foreign policy section anywhere on it and no national section of any kind.
• [Position, read 2026-09-20] The issues page is the platform: suspending the truck toll program and vetoing any attempt to toll cars, vetoing a millionaires tax, vetoing bills without a fiscal note, a systematic review of every state agency's operations and systems, state land and buildings for housing, a housing note on all legislation, changes at the Department of Transportation, and judicial and magistrate appointments on merit.
• [Position, read 2026-09-20] His press page lists his campaign's releases and appearances: a Transparency in State Taxation Act, a Cost of Living Relief Plan, an Honest Utility Bill Initiative targeting a 25 percent cut in electric bills, a One Stay, One Bill plan for hospitals, a statement on a casino operator's finances, a statement on the Board of Elections meeting about the primary recount requests, and several interviews. None of them reaches any foreign subject.
• [Read 2026-09-20] Ballotpedia's page for him records that he has not completed its Candidate Connection survey for 2026 and lists no issue positions. It gives his 2014 Republican primary loss to Allan Fung, 54.9 percent to 45.1, and his 2010 run as the Moderate Party candidate, 6.5 percent and 22,146 votes.
• [Earlier record, 2014-08-28] A Rhode Island Jewish community publication put questions to the candidates for governor in 2014 and printed his answers. Its candidate page, posted August 28, 2014, states the two questions asked of every candidate for the office: one on unemployment, schools and the social safety net, and one on the state budget deficit. Neither asked about Israel, Gaza or foreign aid. His own statement and his answer on that page are about unemployment, the cost of doing business, fourth-grade reading, the budget deficit and waste in state programs, and reach no foreign subject. This is recorded because it is the closest thing found to anyone putting questions to him in a setting where this subject might have come up.

The race

• [Read 2026-09-20] The general election for governor of Rhode Island is on November 3, 2026. Ballotpedia's page for the race gives the field: "Helena Foulkes (D), Aaron Guckian (R), Ken Block (Independent), Jasjit Gotra (Independent), and Christopher Reynolds (Independent) are running in the general election for Governor of Rhode Island on November 3, 2026." The same page notes that its candidate list may not be complete, and lists Julian J. Smith (Independent) among withdrawn or disqualified candidates. Block did not run in either primary; he is on the ballot as a candidate with no party affiliation.
• [Read 2026-09-20] The primaries were held on September 9, 2026. Ballotpedia's tables read: Democratic primary, Helena Foulkes 62.3 percent and 75,654 votes, incumbent Daniel McKee 37.7 percent and 45,700, out of 121,354 cast; Republican primary, Aaron Guckian 50.6 percent and 11,691 votes, Elaine Pelino 49.4 percent and 11,432, out of 23,123 cast.
• [Read 2026-09-20] The results were certified on September 15, 2026. NBC 10 reported that the Board of Elections re-read the electronic data stored on election night memory devices in the Republican race for governor, that there was no change, and that "Guckian was the winner, the Board of Elections said in certifying the results." Election Desk's account of the same meeting records that the board certified that race "along with the rest of the state's September 9 primary results", and gives the certified margin as 259 votes.
• [Read 2026-09-20] Daniel McKee, the incumbent governor, lost the Democratic primary and is not on the November ballot. He is the only candidate in this race with a published card at this site, and his record is not narrated here.
• The other candidates' records belong on their own cards and are not narrated here.

A note on the name, for anyone re-checking this record

• Several people share this name and none of their words are used here. A rally driver of the same name, who died in 2023, is a different person; so is a rabbi of the same name; so is a Ken Block who is not from Rhode Island. The candidate on this card is the Barrington software engineer and data analyst who founded the Moderate Party of Rhode Island, ran for governor in 2010 and 2014, published a book on election fraud claims in 2024, and is on the November 2026 ballot as an independent. That chain was checked against his own site, his Ballotpedia page, the 2014 community candidate page and the 2014 fact-check, all of which agree.

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

• The video of the 2014 gathering, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=big32PeEudo , was not watched. Its page opened and its publisher's description was read, which is the only basis for the item recorded above. Anyone who can watch it can settle whether he spoke and what he said.
• His campaign's accounts. https://x.com/KenBlockRI opens far enough to show his profile line and a handful of posts, about state government, an interview and a newspaper piece about the race; the rest asks a reader to sign in, and nothing on this subject appears in what is served. https://www.facebook.com/KenBlockRI/ returns an error to every request.
• Our research reported that he had written a post on October 26, 2025 about a state party disbanding a young Republicans chapter over leaked messages. The address it gave for that post is not his: it points at a newspaper's Facebook page in Kansas, and it returns an error in any case. No post of his on that subject could be found at any address that opens, so nothing from it is used or quoted here.
• WPRI's report of his entry into the race, at https://www.wpri.com/news/elections/ken-block-announces-2026-run-for-governor/ , refuses every request made here, as does the rest of that site.
• Rhode Island Current's 2026 primary voter guide for this office, at https://rhodeislandcurrent.com/voter-guides/contests/2026-primary-governor/ , refuses every request made here and could not be opened.
• His filmed interviews, including https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjdrDaGYqa8 on his top campaign issues, were not watched here and nothing is claimed from them. His book of 2024 was not read.

Not on the card, and why

• His whole platform: truck tolls, utility bills and electricity costs, a millionaires tax, fiscal notes on legislation, agency reviews and state computer systems, housing, the Department of Transportation, judicial appointments, hospital billing and state oversight of a casino operator. Out of scope, and listed above so the absence can be checked.
• His work on election data, the 2020 fraud analysis and his 2024 book. Out of scope: it is about elections in the United States, not about what the United States sends anyone.
• His position on the Second Amendment, and his site's section on social and cultural issues beyond the sentence quoted above. Out of scope.
• The 2014 gathering in Rhode Island. Recorded above as an attendance reported in a video description that was not watched here and that misnames other people it lists. It is not a statement of his and it is twelve years old.
• The 2014 dispute over an image posted by a donor, and his campaign's answer to it. A spokesman's words in a campaign argument, not a statement about what the United States sends or funds.
• The reported post of October 26, 2025 about a young Republicans chapter. The address given for it is a different publication's page and returns an error; no post of his on the subject could be found, so nothing is claimed.
• The records of the other candidates on the November ballot. Another candidate's positions belong on that candidate's own card.

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

• https://www.blockforgovernor.com/ and all thirteen pages of it (opened; 2026-09-20), including https://www.blockforgovernor.com/about.php , https://www.blockforgovernor.com/issues.php , https://www.blockforgovernor.com/media.php , https://www.blockforgovernor.com/kenbehonest.php , https://www.blockforgovernor.com/event.php , https://www.blockforgovernor.com/poll-results.php , https://www.blockforgovernor.com/amendment.php , https://www.blockforgovernor.com/hospitalbill.php , https://www.blockforgovernor.com/kensplans.php , https://www.blockforgovernor.com/tolls.php , https://www.blockforgovernor.com/poll-release1.php and its three press releases
• https://ballotpedia.org/Ken_Block (opened; 2026-09-20)
• https://ballotpedia.org/Rhode_Island_gubernatorial_election,_2026 (opened; 2026-09-20)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=big32PeEudo (page opened and its description read, video not watched; 2026-09-20; published 2014-08-25)
• https://politifact.com/factchecks/2014/aug/24/allan-fung/allan-fung-says-ken-blocks-campaign-compared-fung/ (opened; 2026-09-20; published 2014-08-24)
• https://www.jewishrhody.com/stories/elections,2485 (opened; 2026-09-20; posted 2014-08-28)
• https://turnto10.com/politics/officials-begin-recount-of-republican-primary-for-rhode-island-governor-sept-15-2026 (opened; 2026-09-20; published 2026-09-15)
• https://electiondesk.org/2026/09/16/new-hampshire-and-rhode-island-set-their-november-ballots-as-primary-season-closes/ (opened; 2026-09-20; published 2026-09-16)
• https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/8/what-to-watch-in-the-uss-new-hampshire-and-rhode-island-primary-elections (opened; 2026-09-20; published 2026-09-08)
• https://x.com/KenBlockRI (opened in part; 2026-09-20)
• https://www.facebook.com/KenBlockRI/ (could not open; 2026-09-20)
• https://www.wpri.com/news/elections/ken-block-announces-2026-run-for-governor/ (could not open; 2026-09-20)
• https://rhodeislandcurrent.com/voter-guides/contests/2026-primary-governor/ (could not open; 2026-09-20)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjdrDaGYqa8 (not watched; 2026-09-20)
• This is a record of what was checked on 2026-09-20, not a claim that no statement exists anywhere.