But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Ted Brown
Libertarian · U.S. Senate, Texas
✓Opposes
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.
Two reviewers, reading the public record as a whole, agree: His platform would end all military aid to foreign countries, especially in the Middle East, and in the same section names U.S. financing of Israel's destruction of Gaza as the problem, so Israel is named in his own words and nothing points the other way. Reviewed by hand on 2026-10-01. This candidate has no recorded tracked floor votes.
Brown's platform would end U.S. “military or financial aid to any foreign countries” and counts “the financing of Israel’s massive destruction of Gaza” in America's “long record of violent involvement”. In May 2026 he called a congressional move to integrate the U.S. and Israeli militaries “totally unacceptable.”
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Ted Brown is the Libertarian nominee for the U.S. Senate in Texas. He is a retired insurance adjuster in Austin, and he was the party's Senate nominee in 2024 as well. He advanced from the Libertarian convention on April 11, 2026, and faces Ken Paxton, the Republican, and James Talarico, the Democrat, on the November 3 ballot, with four independents running as write-in candidates. He has never held federal office, so there are no Senate votes on this record.
His campaign platform's foreign policy section is headed "Non-intervention and bringing all troops home". Its list of commitments includes "End all foreign aid payments" and "Vote against any military appropriations for foreign deployments". It goes on: “Libertarians would bring the troops home and close most of our foreign military bases, especially those in the Middle East. We should also not be providing any military or financial aid to any foreign countries, especially those in the Middle East.” Its next paragraph lists U.S. actions in the region: “It is our long record of violent involvement in the Middle East that’s the main problem — from the 1991 Gulf War, to the occupation of Afghanistan, to the 2003 Iraq war and occupation, to the overthrowing the Libyan government, to the financing of Israel’s massive destruction of Gaza and other nearby countries”.
On May 30, 2026 his Facebook page shared a report headed “Congress quietly moves to integrate US and Israeli militaries”, and he wrote: “This is totally unacceptable. The U. S. military should not be integrated with any other country's military, especially a country that commits war crimes and violates human rights so egregiously. I generally oppose the NDAA, but this alone is reason to vote NO. I would oppose this measure vigorously if elected Senator.” The post does not name the country; the report it shares does.
Nothing located has him speaking to U.S. aid to Palestinians specifically; his platform would end all foreign aid payments. In a 2022 state House questionnaire, he wrote that "Israel has some heavy-handed policies against the Palestinians that seem to violate human rights" and that he would repeal the Texas law that "forbids people doing business with the state from participating in BDS," which he said "violates the 1st Amendment." A June 2026 report on his state party's resolution about candidates backed by AIPAC, a pro-Israel lobbying group, could not be opened; its address is on his research page.
In their words
“We should also not be providing any military or financial aid to any foreign countries, especially those in the Middle East.”
“This is totally unacceptable. The U. S. military should not be integrated with any other country's military, especially a country that commits war crimes and violates human rights so egregiously. I generally oppose the NDAA, but this alone is reason to vote NO. I would oppose this measure vigorously if elected Senator.”
The notes behind this card: what we looked at, what we found, and where each item came from.
Our research for this card began with a search run on 2026-09-28, and every page below was opened and read on 2026-10-01 unless the entry says otherwise. His campaign site is a single page, https://tedbrown.org/website/ , to which the bare address redirects; it was read in full, including every "Read on" section. It carries no publication date and refers to the 2026 war with Iran, so it is recorded on the date we read it and banded as a position. Brown has never held federal office, so none of the Senate votes this site tracks is his, and no funding from the committees this site tracks is recorded on this record. Bands: Position (2024-01-26 onward), Reaction window (2023-10-07 to 2024-01-25), Earlier record (before 2023-10-07), Undated. Nothing located falls in the reaction window.
U.S. military aid and weapons to the government of Israel
[Position; read 2026-10-01] His campaign platform, Foreign Policy, subheaded "Non-intervention and bringing all troops home". Under "Current Foreign Entanglements" it lists "$66 billion in foreign aid to 164 countries"; under "America First Foreign Policy" it lists "Bring ALL troops home from foreign assignments", "End all foreign military interventions", "Withdraw from NATO and other entangling alliances", "End all foreign aid payments" and "Vote against any military appropriations for foreign deployments". Its "Read on" text: "Libertarians would bring the troops home and close most of our foreign military bases, especially those in the Middle East. We should also not be providing any military or financial aid to any foreign countries, especially those in the Middle East." The paragraph after it: "It is our long record of violent involvement in the Middle East that’s the main problem — from the 1991 Gulf War, to the occupation of Afghanistan, to the 2003 Iraq war and occupation, to the overthrowing the Libyan government, to the financing of Israel’s massive destruction of Gaza and other nearby countries, and currently the Trump War in Iran (Operation “Epic Folly”). Our troops, our bombs, our drone strikes, and our meddling have created more terrorists and more blowback every year. We certainly need a peaceful foreign policy with a bombing moratorium!"
[Position, 2026-05-30] A post on his campaign's Facebook page, "Ted Brown, Libertarian for U. S. Senator from Texas", sharing an MSN report headed "Congress quietly moves to integrate US and Israeli militaries" (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/congress-quietly-moves-to-integrate-us-and-israeli-militaries/ar-AA24k4XA). The post reads in full: "This is totally unacceptable. The U. S. military should not be integrated with any other country's military, especially a country that commits war crimes and violates human rights so egregiously. I generally oppose the NDAA, but this alone is reason to vote NO. I would oppose this measure vigorously if elected Senator." The post does not name the country; the shared report's headline does. The report itself was not opened for this card.
[Undated; his 2024 campaign site as reproduced on Ballotpedia] His Ballotpedia page reproduces the foreign policy text of his 2024 campaign site, which ends: "Additionally, our government currently gives $57 billion of our tax dollars to 164 countries for foreign aid. Some of the aid is military and some is humanitarian, but it is primarily the transfer of wealth from American taxpayers to the elite of other countries. I will work to end all foreign aid payments." The page does not date the text within 2024, so it is kept here and not used on the card.
Our research reported a June 19, 2026 statement in which he said he opposes "U.S. military and economic aid to Israel, just as I oppose such aid to any other country", issued with a Libertarian Party of Texas resolution. Its only source could not be opened (see below), so those words have not been read and are not used.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
Nothing located that speaks to aid for Palestinians specifically. His platform would "End all foreign aid payments", and his 2024 campaign text, reproduced on Ballotpedia, says foreign aid is partly "humanitarian" and that he will "work to end all foreign aid payments". Neither names Gaza, the West Bank or the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees.
Characterization of the conflict
[Position; read 2026-10-01] His campaign platform lists "the financing of Israel’s massive destruction of Gaza and other nearby countries" in what it calls America's "long record of violent involvement in the Middle East". Quoted in full above.
[Position, 2026-05-30] The Facebook post above calls the country whose military Congress was moving to integrate with the U.S. military "a country that commits war crimes and violates human rights so egregiously".
[Earlier record, 2022] His iVoterGuide questionnaire for the 2022 race for Texas House District 50. Under National Security, beside the statement "I support the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement to pressure Israel to withdraw from occupied territories, remove the separation barrier in the West Bank, allow full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, and promote the rights of Palestinian refugees.", he marked "Disagree" and wrote: "In general, I don't favor sanctions against governments, since they harm the citizens of those countries, not the government leaders who are targeted. I do believe that Israel has some heavy-handed policies against the Palestinians that seem to violate human rights. I think that most governments violate people's rights on a daily basis. I would repeal the Texas law that forbids people doing business with the state from participating in BDS. This violates the 1st Amendment." He used the full range of answers and wrote at length elsewhere on the form. The page is the guide's profile of him for that 2022 race, as its own heading says.
Israel-related rhetoric and lobbying
[Earlier record, 2022] The same 2022 questionnaire: he would repeal the Texas law barring state contractors from boycotts, quoted above.
Our research reported that in June 2026 he backed a Libertarian Party of Texas resolution refusing party support to candidates backed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobbying group, or by other foreign-connected political organizations, and that he said he is not beholden to special interest groups. The report it cited could not be opened, so nothing from it is used. His campaign site does say he "is not beholden to any special interest groups or corrupt party leaders", and he told Community Impact "I'm not beholden to any special interest groups"; neither names an organization.
Safety and antisemitism (context, not an answer to what America sends)
Nothing located that addresses antisemitism or safety as policy. His campaign site's immigration section gives his family history: "One of my great-grandfathers was a Lithuanian Jew who fled anti-Semitism in Czarist Russia in 1890." His biography on the same page says he is "of German, Greek, and Jewish ancestry".
What the campaign site and own pages say
[Position, 2026-08-21] Community Impact's Senate candidate Q&A put the same questions to Paxton, Talarico and Brown. Asked his top priorities, he answered: "I support personal freedom, economic freedom, digital privacy, and am anti-war and anti-foreign military intervention. I will only vote for laws that are constitutional and promote liberty. I want the U. S. to withdraw from the Middle East. I'm not beholden to any special interest groups." No question was about foreign aid or Israel.
[Read 2026-10-01] His campaign site also covers taxes, spending, the drug war, emergency powers, free trade, immigration, health care and civil liberties. Its biography says he joined the Libertarian Party in 1979, chaired the Libertarian Party of California, and is now candidate coordinator for the Libertarian Party of Texas.
[Read 2026-10-01] His Ballotpedia page: "James Talarico (D), Ken Paxton (R), and five other candidates are running in the general election for U.S. Senate in Texas on November 3, 2026." The other five are Ted Brown (L) and four independents running as write-in candidates: Avery Ayers, Bradford Hall, Zul Mohamed and Jade Simmons. He advanced from the Libertarian Party convention on April 11, 2026. He has not completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.
Places that could not be read, so nothing is claimed from them
The Independent Political Report article on the Libertarian Party of Texas resolution, https://independentpoliticalreport.com/2026/06/libertarian-party-of-texas-rejects-support-for-candidates-backed-by-aipac-foreign-connected-political-organizations/ , which could not be opened. It is the only source offered for the June 19, 2026 statement on aid and the resolution on AIPAC.
His account on X, https://x.com/TedBrownLiberty . A web search summary attributes to him words about not "merging the U.S. military with any other country's military" and having "less to do with Israel's military, not more"; the post itself was not found or read, so those words are not used.
The MSN report his Facebook post shares, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/congress-quietly-moves-to-integrate-us-and-israeli-militaries/ar-AA24k4XA , which was not opened; only its headline, as shown on his post, is used.
https://www.localcandidates.org/politicians/ted-brown/positions/c1d71b59-2fe6-496d-8b5f-d24aad584e2b , a host that does not render for us and that this project does not use.
Not on the card, and why
The June 19, 2026 statement on "U.S. military and economic aid to Israel" and the resolution on AIPAC: the only source did not open.
The 2022 questionnaire answers: earlier record. They close the deep dive as history and stay off the front.
His 2024 campaign text on foreign aid: undated within 2024. Recorded above.
His remarks on U.S. troops, NATO, wars in the Middle East and the war with Iran: they name no recipient of U.S. weapons or money, or are about a different war.
His family history: biography, not a position.
Ken Paxton's, James Talarico's and the write-in candidates' records belong on their own cards.
Sources retrieved for this card (address; opened or could not open; date)
https://ivoterguide.com/candidate/53946/race/15223/election/943?culture=en-us (opened; 2026-10-01; the 2022 Texas House questionnaire)
https://communityimpact.com/central-austin/election/qa-meet-the-candidates-running-to-represent-texas-in-the-us-senate/ (opened; 2026-10-01; published 2026-08-21)
https://sanantonioreport.org/profile/ted-brown-2026-texas-senate-candidate/ (opened; 2026-10-01; published 2026-07-14; biography only)
https://independentpoliticalreport.com/2026/06/libertarian-party-of-texas-rejects-support-for-candidates-backed-by-aipac-foreign-connected-political-organizations/ (could not open; 2026-10-01)
This is a record of what was checked on 2026-09-28 and 2026-10-01, not a claim that no other statement exists.
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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