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

Helena Foulkes

Democrat · Governor, Rhode Island
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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.

Foulkes won the Democratic primary on September 9 and is running on housing, health care and the Washington Bridge. Nothing located as of September 2026 has her taking a position on U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel, or on U.S. aid to Palestinians.

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Deep Dive

Helena Buonanno Foulkes is the Democratic nominee for governor of Rhode Island. She spent twenty-five years at CVS and was president of its pharmacy business, then led Hudson's Bay Company and Follett Higher Education, and she has never held public office. On September 9, 2026 she defeated Governor Daniel McKee in the Democratic primary, 62.3 percent to 37.7 percent, and the Board of Elections certified the result on September 15. Her campaign is about Rhode Island: eight published plans covering health care, jobs, childcare and transportation, career and technical education, utility bills, housing, the Washington Bridge and ethics in the State House.

On the question this site asks, the record is empty rather than thin. Her campaign site was read in full, including all eight of those plan documents, about 34,700 words of published policy, and the words Israel, Gaza, Palestinian, Hamas and foreign aid appear in none of it. Neither does foreign policy of any kind. Ballotpedia's page for her carries no answers to its candidate questionnaire this year; the one she completed in 2022 is about schools, the cost of living and job training. The reporting of her primary win covers the bridge, health costs and housing and reaches no foreign subject. An empty record carries no implication either way, and a governor casts no federal votes on any of this.

What our research did turn up about her and this subject is one report about who hosted a fundraiser for her, which is not a statement by her about what the United States sends or funds. It is set out with its date and its address on her research page, along with the accounts of hers that could not be read here.

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

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. Her campaign site was read in full, every page on it and all eight of the plan documents it publishes. Bands: Position (2024-01-26 onward), Reaction window (2023-10-07 to 2024-01-25), Earlier record (before 2023-10-07), Undated. She 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 hers 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 her campaign site, in any of her eight plan documents, on her Ballotpedia page, in her 2022 questionnaire answers, or in any report of her 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 her published material.

Characterization of the conflict

  • Nothing located, at any date. She has not been found using the words genocide, apartheid, self-defense or terrorism about the war in Gaza, and nothing of hers was found on Palestinian statehood, a two-state framework or territorial boundaries. A case-insensitive search of her whole campaign site and all eight plan documents for israel, gaza, palestin, hamas, antisemit, jewish, zionis, aipac, unrwa, foreign aid, foreign policy, military aid, middle east, netanyahu, two-state and genocide returns one match in about 34,700 words of policy documents, and it is the phrase "one of just two states without a state-funded medical school" in her health care plan.

Related rhetoric and lobbying

  • Nothing located, at any date. Nothing that could be read here has her naming the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, any other advocacy organization working on this subject, or money connected to any of them.

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

  • [Position, 2025-05-31] The one item located that touches this subject at all, and it is about a fundraiser host rather than about her. GoLocalProv reported that a Washington fundraiser for her campaign, scheduled for June 11 at $2,000 a ticket, was being hosted by Elizabeth Bagley, a former United States ambassador to Brazil and to Portugal, and it recounted that remarks Bagley made about Jewish political influence in a 1998 interview drew criticism when she was nominated as ambassador in 2022. The outlet also reports, in its own words, "GoLocal reached out to Foulkes to ask about the appropriateness of having Bagley associated with her campaign. She did not respond." The page is dated Saturday, May 31, 2025 and is bylined to the outlet's news team. Nothing here is a statement by Foulkes about antisemitism, about the war, or about what the United States sends or funds, and nothing is read into it on the card. The remarks at issue are a third person's and are not reproduced here.

What the campaign site and her own pages say

  • [Position, read 2026-09-20] Her campaign site was read in full. Its own index returns seven pages, last modified 2026-09-03: the home page, Plans, Endorsements, Vote, Get Involved, a test copy of the home page and a privacy policy. There is no foreign policy section anywhere on the site and no national section of any kind.
  • [Position, read 2026-09-20] The plans page publishes eight policy documents, each as a full paper: Reimagining Rhode Island Healthcare, Believe in Rhode Island on jobs, Childcare and Transportation for Working Families, Classroom to Career on technical education, No False Choices on energy and utility bills, The Rhode Home Program on housing, Never Again on the Washington Bridge and the Department of Transportation, and You Shouldn't Have to Know a Guy on ethics. All eight were downloaded and read, about 34,700 words in all. Every one of them is about Rhode Island. The page's own line is that it "will be updated as she announces the plans she'll work to implement as governor."
  • [Position, read 2026-09-20] Her home page describes her as "a lifelong Rhode Islander, wife of 36 years, mother of four, grandmother, and cancer survivor who rose through the ranks of CVS over 25 years to become president of its retail division", and her statement of why she is running names affordable housing, the Washington Bridge, state spending and the federal administration's treatment of the state. No foreign subject appears.
  • [Read 2026-09-20] Ballotpedia's page for her records that she has not completed its Candidate Connection survey for 2026. It reproduces her 2022 survey answers in full: they are about COVID learning loss, a middle-class tax cut, housing and free job training, and they reach no foreign subject. The page gives her career as CVS Pharmacy president from 2014 to 2018, chief executive of Hudson's Bay Company from 2018 to 2020 and executive chair of Follett Higher Education from 2023 to 2026.
  • [Read 2026-09-20] Her Wikipedia article runs to about 2,100 words and contains none of the search terms above.
  • [Position, 2026-09-10] The Brown Daily Herald's account of her primary win records that she has never served in political office and describes her platform as raising Medicaid reimbursement rates and a new tax bracket for millionaires to fund housing. It reaches no foreign subject.
  • [Position, 2026-09-10] The Guardian's account of the primary quotes her victory speech on governing for everyone and covers the Washington Bridge. It reaches no foreign subject.
  • [Position, 2026-09-08] Al Jazeera's preview of the primary covers the race in detail and names no foreign subject in connection with it.

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.
  • [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. WJAR 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 Guckian's certified margin as 259 votes.
  • [Read 2026-09-20] Daniel McKee, the incumbent governor, lost the 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.

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

  • Her campaign's accounts. https://x.com/HelenaBFoulkes opens far enough to show that it is run by her press team and to show a handful of posts, which are about the anniversary of September 11, campaigning, and state spending; the rest asks a reader to sign in, and nothing on this subject appears in what is served. https://www.facebook.com/helena4RI/ returns an error to every request. Her campaign also lists an Instagram account. None of these was read in full and nothing is claimed from any of them.
  • 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. A voter guide is the kind of place a question like this one gets asked, so it is named here for anyone who can open it.
  • WJAR's filmed interview with her about her campaign, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vz_KdYJBxs , was not watched here and nothing is claimed from it.

Not on the card, and why

  • Her whole platform: health care, jobs, childcare and transportation, career and technical education, utility bills and energy, housing, the Washington Bridge and the Department of Transportation, ethics and state spending. Out of scope, and listed above so the absence can be checked.
  • The report about the host of a Washington fundraiser for her campaign. It is a third party's past remarks and an outlet's question she did not answer, not a statement by her about what the United States sends or funds. It is recorded above with its date and address.
  • Her 2022 questionnaire answers. They are on the record above and reach no foreign subject.
  • Her victory speech and the reporting of the primary result. Out of scope, beyond the race facts stated above.
  • The record of Daniel McKee, whom she defeated, and 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://helenafoulkes.com/ and every page on it (opened; 2026-09-20)
  • https://helenafoulkes.com/plans/ (opened; 2026-09-20)
  • https://helenafoulkes.com/endorsements/ (opened; 2026-09-20)
  • https://helenafoulkes.com/vote/ (opened; 2026-09-20)
  • Her eight plan documents, all opened and read on 2026-09-20: https://helenafoulkes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Reimagining-Rhode-Island-Healthcare.pdf , https://helenafoulkes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Believe-in-Rhode-Island-Creating-Growing-Good-Paying-Jobs.pdf , https://helenafoulkes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Childcare-Transportation.pdf , https://helenafoulkes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Classroom-to-Career.pdf , https://helenafoulkes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/No-False-Choices.pdf , https://helenafoulkes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/The-Rhode-Home-Program.pdf , https://helenafoulkes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Department-of-Transportation.pdf , https://helenafoulkes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/You-Shouldnt-Have-to-Know-a-Guy.pdf
  • https://ballotpedia.org/Helena_Foulkes (opened; 2026-09-20)
  • https://ballotpedia.org/Rhode_Island_gubernatorial_election,_2026 (opened; 2026-09-20)
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helena_Buonanno_Foulkes (opened; 2026-09-20)
  • https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/helena-foulkes-wins-democratic-nomination-for-ri-governor-20260910 (opened; 2026-09-20; published 2026-09-10)
  • https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/09/rhode-island-primary-results-dan-mckee (opened; 2026-09-20; published 2026-09-10)
  • 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://www.golocalprov.com/politics/dc-fundraiser-for-foulkes-hosted-by-former-ambassador-criticized-for-antise (opened; 2026-09-20; published 2025-05-31)
  • 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://x.com/HelenaBFoulkes (opened in part; 2026-09-20)
  • https://www.facebook.com/helena4RI/ (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=2vz_KdYJBxs (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.

Also in this race

  1. – Aaron Guckian (Republican)
  2. – Christopher Reynolds (Independent)
  3. – Jasjit Gotra (Independent)
  4. – Ken Block (Independent)

All Rhode Island 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.