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

Ray McKay

Republican · U.S. Senate, 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.

Nothing located has McKay taking a position on U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel, or on U.S. aid to Palestinians. His campaign's four planks are all domestic, and what he has published nearest to this question is about antisemitism in the United States.

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Deep Dive

Raymond Tyler McKay is the Republican nominee for Rhode Island's seat in the U.S. Senate and faces Jack Reed, the state's senior senator, on November 3, 2026. He ran unopposed in the Republican primary of September 9, 2026 and advanced from it with 19,860 votes; one independent, Michael Bahry, is also on the November ballot. He served eleven years in the U.S. Army, worked twenty-six years as the network and telecommunications manager for the city of Warwick, and was president of the Rhode Island Republican Assembly, a conservative activist group within the state party, for ten years. He ran for this office once before and lost the 2024 Republican primary. He has never held federal office, so none of the congressional votes this site tracks are his.

His platform does not reach foreign policy at all. The four things his campaign asks voters to judge it on are the economy and energy costs, Social Security and Medicare and the federal deficit, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and border security. No country is named in any of them. The candidate survey he completed during his 2024 campaign runs to more than a thousand words on his service, term limits, judicial nominees, spending and government accountability, and the interview a local station published with him that August reaches inflation, immigration and, in one passing phrase, "conflicts across the world", without naming one. Israel, Gaza, Palestinians, weapons and foreign aid appear nowhere in either.

What he has published nearest to this subject is about a broadcaster and about the senator he is running against, rather than about what the United States sends. On August 31, 2026 his campaign posted a short video, and the words with it read: "Once again, Jack Reed fails Rhode Island's Jewish community by not calling out Hassan Piker. There is no room in America for this hate", adding that the senator's silence is not representing his constituents. His campaign carried the same statement in Spanish on its own site the same day. His campaign also published a press release on September 4, 2026 whose text could not be read here; what is reported of it is on his research page with its address. A statement about antisemitism in the United States is context on this site and never the answer to what America sends, and nothing of his was found on the sending itself. An empty record on that question carries no implication either way.

Everything that was read is on his research page. You are better placed to change this than we are. Ask McKay 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 support found in any cycle they have filed

Lifetime support from the five lobbying groups we track
Nothing recorded (as of 2026-10-03) from the five lobbying groups we track, in any cycle they have filed.
Support-only OpenFEC data. Opposition independent expenditures are excluded.

In their words

“Una vez más, Jack Reed falla a la comunidad Judía de Rhode Island al no denunciar a Hasan Piker. No hay lugar en Estados Unidos para este odio, y al Reed ignorar este problema, no está representando a sus electores.”
Source ↗, 2026-08-31

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, every page of it; so were his Ballotpedia page with the candidate survey he completed in 2024 and the 2024 interview reproduced there, the race page, the page of his campaign's video that our research pointed at, and his accounts as far as they are served to a reader who is not signed in. 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 federal office, so none of the congressional votes this site tracks are his.

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, the memorandum of understanding, security assistance, a dollar figure, a condition on aid, or any bill, amendment or arms sale by name appears on his campaign site, in his 2024 candidate survey, in the 2024 interview his Ballotpedia page reproduces, in his campaign's published posts, or in anything else read for this card.
  • [Position, read 2026-09-20] The nearest thing to a foreign-policy sentence anywhere in his published material is in that 2024 interview, where he gives as his reason for running "From record-breaking inflation rates to record-breaking illegal immigration and conflicts across the world, we need strong, dedicated leadership in the U.S. Senate." It names no country and no form of aid.

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 the material read for this card.

Characterization of the conflict

  • Nothing located, at any date. He has not been found using the words genocide, apartheid, self-defense or terrorism about the war in Gaza, and nothing was found from him on Palestinian statehood, a two-state framework or territorial boundaries.

Israel-related rhetoric and lobbying

  • [Position, 2026-08-31] His campaign published a video whose own text names the broadcaster Hasan Piker and the senator he is running against. The English wording, which is what the video's page carries as its own description, reads: "Once again, Jack Reed fails Rhode Island's Jewish community by not calling out Hassan Piker. There is no room in America for this hate, and Reed's ignoring it is not representing his constituents..." The page truncates it there. The address is https://www.facebook.com/mckayforsenate/videos/once-again-jack-reed-fails-rhode-islands-jewish-community-by-not-calling-out-has/2247210716127139/ . The recording itself was not watched.
  • [Position, 2026-08-31] The same statement in Spanish, in full and undertruncated, is carried on his campaign site's news page, which reproduces his campaign's own feed and dates it 31 Aug: "Una vez más, Jack Reed falla a la comunidad Judía de Rhode Island al no denunciar a Hasan Piker. No hay lugar en Estados Unidos para este odio, y al Reed ignorar este problema, no está representando a sus electores." The Spanish-language video of it is at https://www.facebook.com/mckayforsenate/videos/una-vez-m%C3%A1s-jack-reed-falla-a-la-comunidad-jud%C3%ADa-de-rhode-island-al-no-denunciar/4009150309381785/ and carries the same words. The two versions spell the broadcaster's name differently, Hassan in the English and Hasan in the Spanish; each is quoted as its own page has it.
  • Reported but not confirmed, and therefore carried on the card only as a press release whose text could not be read. Our research reported that his campaign published a release on September 4, 2026 criticizing the senator over the same subject, and quoted two spans from it: that combating antisemitism and religious bigotry is extremely important now given the rise of this hatred in Rhode Island and in America, and that he had condemned antisemitism when it was displayed "front and center at Brown University" during campus demonstrations. The post exists: its own address is https://www.facebook.com/mckayforsenate/posts/for-immediate-releaseseptember-4-2026contact-mediamckayforsenatecomray-mckay-cal/1556729873136728/ and the only thing it serves to a reader who is not signed in is its heading, "For Immediate Release September 4,...". Neither quoted span could be checked, so neither is published in his voice anywhere on this card. If they are confirmed, they are still a statement about antisemitism in the United States rather than about what America sends.
  • Nothing located about the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, about any other advocacy organization on this subject, or about money connected to any of them, in anything he has published.

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

  • [Position, 2026-08-31] The August 31 statement above is the whole of what could be verified on this dimension: it is about a broadcaster's words, about hate in America, and about a senator he says is not speaking. It is recorded here because this site collects such material as context, and it is not treated as a position on U.S. weapons or money for any government.
  • Nothing else located. No statement of his about the safety of any religious community in Rhode Island, apart from the two lines reported from the unreadable press release, was found.

What the campaign site and his own pages say

  • [Position, read 2026-09-20] His campaign site was read in full: the home page, Meet Ray McKay, Right Direction, Events, News and Join or Contact. Every page was searched case-insensitively for israel, gaza, palestin, hamas, zionis, aipac, antisemit, jewish, foreign aid, military aid, arms, weapon and middle east. The only hits anywhere on the site are inside his own August 31 post reproduced on the news page.
  • [Position, read 2026-09-20] The platform page, headed Right Direction, sets out four things under the question "HOW DO WE GET THERE?": "GROW OUR ECONOMY FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL", "STRENGTHEN SOCIAL SECURITY & MEDICARE", "PROTECT THE CONSTITUTION AND BILL OF RIGHTS" and "SECURE OUR BORDERS". Its arguments are about energy costs and offshore wind, the federal deficit and fraud in federal programs, bills he says clip income and liberties, and immigration enforcement. No foreign country is named on the page.
  • [Position, read 2026-09-20] His biography page and the site's news page carry no foreign policy material of any kind. The news page reproduces his campaign's feed: a post of 16 Sep pointing at a video, a Labor Day message of 7 Sep, a repost of 6 Sep quoting a Roman Catholic cardinal on the West, and the August 31 post above.
  • [Earlier record, submitted 2024-08-12; read 2026-09-20] His Ballotpedia page carries in full the Candidate Connection survey he completed during his 2024 campaign. He answered every question, at length: his Army service from 1981 to 1992 on the Pershing missile system in West Germany and as a programmer, twenty-six years as the network and telecommunications manager for the city of Warwick, his first run for office in 1998, term limits of two Senate terms and four House terms, how he would evaluate a judicial nominee, spending, Social Security, borders, veterans, energy independence and government transparency. Nothing in any answer names Israel, Gaza, Palestinians, foreign aid or any foreign country. The page also records that he "has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey." The questionnaire test is met in his favor for 2024: he used the whole range of the form, so the silence there is his own, though no question on the form asks about this subject.
  • [Earlier record, 2024-08-09; read 2026-09-20] The same page reproduces an interview he gave WPRI on August 9, 2024, in five questions and answers. Its subjects are why he is running, his military and municipal career, the biggest issue facing Rhode Island, which he gives as "managing economic recovery from rising inflation and high living costs", a hidden gem in the state, and where to find his campaign. The only phrase in it that reaches beyond the United States is "conflicts across the world". The station's own page for that interview did not open.
  • [Read 2026-09-20] His campaign's account on X, https://x.com/McKay_Senate , carries 3,094 posts and is served to a reader who is not signed in only as its heading: the name Raymond T McKay, the description "McKay for U.S. Senate - RI / McKay for Senate Inc / US Army Veteran ** Constitutional Conservative", Warwick, the address mckayforsenate.com, and "Joined February 2014". The posts themselves were not read there; four of them are reproduced on his own campaign site and are recorded above. His campaign's page on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/mckayforsenate , refused to open, and so did his personal accounts.

The race

  • [Read 2026-09-20] Ballotpedia's page for the race gives the filing deadline as June 24, 2026, the primary as September 9, 2026 and the general election as November 3, 2026, and states: "Incumbent Jack Reed, Raymond McKay, Michael Bahry, and Jon Lindley are running in the general election for U.S. Senate Rhode Island on November 3, 2026." Michael Bahry and Jon Lindley are both listed as independents there; Lindley’s listing rests on his April 2023 federal statement of candidacy alone, and the Secretary of State’s filing record as reported on July 11, 2026 names Bahry as the only independent to file nomination papers for the seat, so this card counts three names on the November ballot. The page records that "Raymond McKay advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Rhode Island on September 9, 2026" unopposed, with 19,860 votes, and that "Incumbent Jack Reed defeated Connor Burbridge and Luis Daniel Muñoz in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Rhode Island on September 9, 2026", Reed taking 76.8 percent and 91,695 votes of 119,421 cast, Burbridge 13.5 percent and 16,106, and Muñoz 9.7 percent and 11,620. Allen Waters is listed under withdrawn or disqualified candidates. Above the field the page warns that "The candidate list in this election may not be complete." The state's own record of the primary, at https://electionresults.ri.gov/results/public/RhodeIsland/elections/RI2026StatewidePrimary , is the source this site's record cites for the result, which it dates September 9, 2026 and certified September 15, 2026. Jack Reed's record is on his own card and is not narrated here, and neither are the two independents'.
  • [Read 2026-09-20] The same page gives the ballot access requirement for every U.S. Senate candidate in Rhode Island this cycle as 1,000 signatures with no filing fee, by June 24, 2026.
  • [Earlier record, 2024; read 2026-09-20] His own Ballotpedia page records that he ran for this office in 2024 as well and that "Patricia Morgan defeated Raymond McKay in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Rhode Island on September 10, 2024." That was for the state's other Senate seat, which Sheldon Whitehouse holds.
  • [Read 2026-09-20] Identity. Every source used here is joined to the same man: Raymond Tyler McKay of Warwick, born in Providence in 1960, Army 1981 to 1992, twenty-six years with the city of Warwick, president of the Rhode Island Republican Assembly for ten years, candidate for this seat in 2024 and 2026. McKay is a common surname and one other politician of the name, a Maryland legislator, turns up in the same searches; nothing of his is used here.

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

  • The campaign press release of September 4, 2026, https://www.facebook.com/mckayforsenate/posts/for-immediate-releaseseptember-4-2026contact-mediamckayforsenatecomray-mckay-cal/1556729873136728/ . Only its heading is served. This is the single item most likely to change this card, because it is the longer, written version of what he said in the August 31 video.
  • His campaign's page on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/mckayforsenate , and his personal accounts at https://www.facebook.com/rtmckay , https://www.instagram.com/mckay_senate and https://www.linkedin.com/in/raymond-mckay-mckay-for-us-senate/ . None opened.
  • His posts on X beyond the four his own site reproduces: https://x.com/McKay_Senate serves only its heading to a reader who is not signed in.
  • WPRI's own pages for him, https://www.wpri.com/news/elections/where-they-stand/where-they-stand-us-senate-candidate-raymond-mckay/ and its Community Focus segment, both of which refuse every route. The August 2024 interview itself was read because his Ballotpedia page reproduces it in full.
  • The two campaign videos themselves. Their pages opened and carry their own text, which is recorded above; the recordings were not watched.

Not on the card, and why

  • The two spans our research quoted from the September 4, 2026 press release, about combating antisemitism and religious bigotry and about a display at Brown University. The post serves nothing but its heading, so neither could be checked, and neither is published in his voice. Both are described above with the address so that anyone who can open it may check.
  • His campaign's four planks on the economy and energy, Social Security and Medicare and the deficit, the Constitution, and the border, and the whole of his 2024 survey answers on service, term limits, judicial nominees, spending, veterans and transparency. Out of scope, and listed above so the absence can be checked.
  • The phrase "conflicts across the world" in his 2024 interview. It names no country, no weapon and no aid, and nothing is read into it.
  • A repost on his campaign's feed of a quotation from a Roman Catholic cardinal about the West and its spiritual values. It is another person's words, it is not about this subject, and nothing is drawn from it.
  • The endorsements listed on his Ballotpedia page and the pledge organization his page links. None of them is about this subject.
  • Jack Reed's record, and the records of Michael Bahry and Jon Lindley. Another candidate's positions belong on that candidate's own card. The August 31 statement is quoted because it is his own, not as an account of the senator's record.

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

  • https://www.mckayforussenate.com/ , /meet-ray-mckay/ , /right-direction/ , /events/ , /in-the-news/ and /join-team-mckay/ (all opened; 2026-09-20)
  • https://ballotpedia.org/Raymond_McKay (opened; 2026-09-20; his survey was submitted 2024-08-12 and the interview it reproduces is dated 2024-08-09)
  • https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Senate_election_in_Rhode_Island,_2026 (opened; 2026-09-20)
  • https://www.facebook.com/mckayforsenate/videos/once-again-jack-reed-fails-rhode-islands-jewish-community-by-not-calling-out-has/2247210716127139/ (page opened and carries its own text; recording not watched; 2026-09-20)
  • https://www.facebook.com/mckayforsenate/videos/una-vez-m%C3%A1s-jack-reed-falla-a-la-comunidad-jud%C3%ADa-de-rhode-island-al-no-denunciar/4009150309381785/ (page opened and carries its own text; recording not watched; 2026-09-20)
  • https://www.facebook.com/mckayforsenate/posts/for-immediate-releaseseptember-4-2026contact-mediamckayforsenatecomray-mckay-cal/1556729873136728/ (heading only; 2026-09-20)
  • https://www.facebook.com/mckayforsenate (could not open; 2026-09-20)
  • https://x.com/McKay_Senate (heading only; 2026-09-20)
  • https://www.wpri.com/news/elections/where-they-stand/where-they-stand-us-senate-candidate-raymond-mckay/ (could not open; 2026-09-20)
  • https://electionresults.ri.gov/results/public/RhodeIsland/elections/RI2026StatewidePrimary (the state's own primary results, cited on this record; 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. ✗ Jack Reed (Democrat)
  2. ? Michael Bahry (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.