But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Ben Mendoza
Independent · U.S. House, Texas District 23
–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.
No recorded votes on the bills we track. We found nothing in their own words about Israel, Gaza or the war.
Nothing located as of October 2026 has Mendoza taking a position on U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel, or on U.S. aid to Palestinians. His San Antonio Report answers are about the border, energy, agriculture, inflation and health care.
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Ben Mendoza is running for Congress in Texas's 23rd District as an independent. He is a mediator in El Paso, and he has run for office often: for the U.S. House in the 16th District in 2012, 2016 and 2018, for the Texas House in 2014, and for the El Paso school board, city council and mayor between 2019 and 2024. The seat is open, and he faces two opponents on November 3: Katy Padilla Stout, the Democrat, and Brandon Herrera, the Republican. He has never held federal office, so there are no congressional votes on this record.
This is an empty record on these questions rather than a thin one. In the San Antonio Report's questionnaire, published in September 2026, his answers cover constitutional limits on the executive, the border, soil and water conservation, agriculture, oil and gas, electric cooperatives, data centers, trade agreements, veterans, inflation, immigration and health care. None mentions Israel, Gaza or foreign aid. No campaign website of his was found, and his Facebook profile could not be read. He has not filled in Ballotpedia's 2026 questionnaire, and iVoterGuide's 2026 page for him carries only his name. An empty record carries no implication either way.
You are better placed to change this than we are. Ask Mendoza 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.
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. No campaign website for him was found: Ballotpedia lists none, the San Antonio Report links only a Facebook profile, and a news search turned up none. Mendoza has never held federal office, so none of the congressional 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 on this subject falls in any band.
U.S. military aid and weapons to the government of Israel
Nothing located, at any date.
[Earlier record, 2018] His iVoterGuide profile for the 2018 race in the 16th District lists the statement "The United States should help defend Israel from attack by its enemies." with "Did not answer". Every one of the questionnaire's answers on that page reads "Did not answer", so this is a fact about the guide's coverage, not a choice about one question.
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 (context, not an answer to what America sends)
Nothing located, at any date.
What the campaign site and own pages say
[Position, 2026-09-18; updated 2026-09-25] The San Antonio Report's candidate profile and questionnaire, by Andrea Drusch. It describes him as a professional mediator in El Paso who has run for city council and mayor, and carries his answers to six questions: about himself, his top policy priorities, inflation and the economy, immigration, the division of power, and health care. His priorities are listed as adhering to the Constitution, border sovereignty, soil and water conservation, agriculture, oil and gas, electric cooperatives, monitoring data centers and trade agreements, and veterans affairs. On the division of power he says Congress should check the executive on national security and spending. On health care he proposes moving the uninsured into Medicare. The words Israel, Gaza, Palestinian, foreign aid, military aid, war and Middle East do not appear on the page.
[Read 2026-10-01] His Ballotpedia page records that he has not completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey, nor its 2023 or 2024 surveys. It records his earlier races: the Democratic primaries for the 16th District in 2012 and 2016, which he lost to Beto O'Rourke; the Texas House in 2014 as an independent; the 16th District general election in 2018 as an independent; and nonpartisan races for the El Paso school board in 2019, the El Paso City Council in 2023 and mayor of El Paso in 2024.
[Read 2026-10-01] His 2026 iVoterGuide profile shows only his name, party and a biography heading; no questionnaire answers are published on it.
The race
[Read 2026-10-01] His Ballotpedia page: "Katy Padilla Stout (D), Brandon Herrera (R), and Ben Mendoza (Independent) are running in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 23 on November 3, 2026." It adds that there are no incumbents in the race, and that the Republican primary runoff was cancelled; Representative Tony Gonzales is listed as withdrawn.
Places that could not be read, so nothing is claimed from them
His Facebook profile, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100007642994029 , which the San Antonio Report links as his. It returns only a sign-in page with his name; no posts could be read.
Not on the card, and why
The 2018 iVoterGuide blank on defending Israel: he answered no question on that form, so the blank says nothing about him. Our research reported it as a question he left unanswered.
His positions on the border, energy, agriculture, inflation, immigration and health care: out of scope. Listed above so the absence is checkable.
Katy Padilla Stout's and Brandon Herrera's records belong on their own cards.
Sources retrieved for this card (address; opened or could not open; date)
https://sanantonioreport.org/profile/ben-mendoza-2026-candidate-for-texas-23rd-congressional-district/ (opened; 2026-10-01; published 2026-09-18, updated 2026-09-25)
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.