But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Jasjit Gotra
Independent · Governor, Rhode Island
–No Position Found
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.
Jasjit "Jay" Gotra is a businessman from East Greenwich running for governor of Rhode Island as an independent. Born and raised in Mumbai, he came to the United States as a teenager and built companies including Alliance Security. He launched his campaign on June 2, 2026 while still a registered Democrat, then collected signatures to run unaffiliated, and in July the Board of Elections rejected a rival independent's challenge to his nomination papers. He is on the November 3 ballot with Helena Foulkes, the Democrat, Aaron Guckian, the Republican, and two other independents, Ken Block and Christopher Reynolds; there is no incumbent in the race.
His campaign is about the state budget. His site sets out five promises: make the state's finances profitable without raising taxes, fully fund teacher and firefighter pensions, make Rhode Island friendlier to business, end the state tax on Social Security within two years, and keep talented residents in the state through its schools. Behind them sit six long-range plans on energy, education, health care, business, transparency and housing. He has pledged that if the state is not "fiscally profitable" by the end of his first term, he will not run for a second. In a campaign statement on July 4, 2026 he called on independent and unaffiliated voters to organize, arguing that no single party should be able to govern alone.
On the question this site asks, the record is empty rather than thin. The words Israel, Gaza, Palestinian and foreign aid appear nowhere on his campaign site, in his campaign statement, or in the coverage of his launch and his ballot fight, and Ballotpedia's page for him carries no questionnaire answers. A governor casts no federal votes on any of this. An empty record carries no implication either way.
You are better placed to change this than we are. Ask Gotra 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 2026-09-28 unless the entry says otherwise. His campaign site is built so that a plain reader sees only a list of page names; its policies and about pages were read in a reader that renders the page. Bands: Position (2024-01-26 onward), Reaction window (2023-10-07 to 2024-01-25), Earlier record (before 2023-10-07), Undated. Gotra has not held federal office, so none of the congressional votes this site tracks is his; the federal funding badges do not apply to a state office.
U.S. military aid and weapons to the government of Israel
Nothing located, at any date.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
Nothing located, at any date.
Characterization of the conflict
Nothing located, at any date.
Israel-related rhetoric and lobbying
Nothing located, at any date.
Safety and antisemitism
Nothing located, at any date.
What the campaign site and own pages say
[Position, read 2026-09-28] His policies page sets out five promises: making the state's finances profitable by cutting waste and unnecessary spending without raising taxes; fully funding teacher and firefighter pensions; reducing regulatory delays for business; eliminating the state's tax on Social Security within two years; and investing in education, including artificial intelligence tools in classrooms. It names six plans: POWER RI 2040 on energy independence, LEARN RI 2030 on education, HEALTHY RI 2034 on health care, BUILD RI 2030 on business, TRUST RI 2030 on transparency and OWN RI 2034 on housing. Nothing on the page reaches foreign policy. Read in a rendering reader; wording is described here, not quoted.
[Position, read 2026-09-28] His about page is about his business career, his family and his roots in Rhode Island, and describes him as the candidate of what it calls the Unaffiliated Movement. Nothing on it reaches foreign policy. Read in a rendering reader.
[Position, 2026-07-04] His campaign's press release on reaching nearly 1,000 signatures, issued through a wire service and republished by the National Law Review. It quotes him: "No single party should be able to govern alone." and on taxes and social programs: "We need a smarter approach — one that doesn't just tax people harder, but actually gets help to the people who need it." Nothing on this subject.
The race
[Position, 2026-06-03] The American Bazaar's report on his launch says he announced from East Greenwich on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, as the first Indian American Democrat to run for the office, and quotes his pledge: "When I am elected, if Rhode Island is not fiscally profitable by the end of my first term, I will not run for a second." It reports that he kept his Democratic registration while acknowledging that he voted for Donald Trump in 2024. New India Abroad's report of June 2, 2026 carries the same launch.
[Position, 2026-07-22] Rhode Island Current reports that the Board of Elections unanimously rejected Ken Block's challenge to Gotra's nomination papers, affirming that both men handed in enough valid signatures, and that C.D. Reynolds is also on the ballot.
[Read 2026-09-28] His Ballotpedia page lists him as an independent and records that Helena Foulkes (D), Aaron Guckian (R), Ken Block (Independent), Jasjit Gotra (Independent) and Christopher Reynolds (Independent) are running in the general election on November 3, 2026, with no incumbent in the race. Foulkes defeated Governor Daniel McKee in the Democratic primary on September 9, 2026, and Guckian defeated Elaine Pelino in the Republican primary the same day. The page carries no questionnaire answers from him.
[Read 2026-09-28] Rhode Island Current's primary voter guide names him among the three independents who will face the primary winners in November; it carries answers only from the primary candidates.
Places that could not be read, so nothing is claimed from them
His campaign site's press, news, events and "your voice" pages, which show a plain reader only the page list and returned no content to the rendering reader. No social accounts are listed for him on Ballotpedia or on his site as read.
The Department of State's candidate list for governor, https://vote.sos.ri.gov/Candidates/CandidateSearchSummary?OfficeType=549&Election=18239 , which refused both ways of opening it on 2026-10-01 (source could not be opened). The ballot field above rests on Ballotpedia and Rhode Island Current.
Not on the card, and why
His platform on the budget, pensions, business, Social Security taxes, education, energy, health care, transparency and housing: out of scope, listed above so the absence can be checked.
His 2024 presidential vote and his party registration history: context about him, not about this question.
The ballot challenge: a state election dispute, recorded above for the race facts only.
Sources retrieved for this card (address; opened or could not open; date)
https://governorgotra.com/ (opened; 2026-09-28; page list only to a plain reader)
https://governorgotra.com/policies and https://governorgotra.com/about (opened in a rendering reader; 2026-09-28)
https://governorgotra.com/press (opened in a rendering reader; no content returned; 2026-09-28)
https://americanbazaaronline.com/2026/06/03/indian-american-jay-gotra-running-for-governor-of-rhode-island-482002/ (opened; 2026-09-28; published 2026-06-03)
https://www.newindiaabroad.com/english/news/jay-gotra-becomes-first-indianamerican-democrat-to-run-for-rhode-island-governor (opened; 2026-09-28; published 2026-06-02)
https://rhodeislandcurrent.com/2026/07/22/sign-here-and-here-and-here-too-nomination-form-protocol-challenge-sparks-debate/ (opened; 2026-09-28; published 2026-07-22)
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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