But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Katy Padilla Stout
Democrat · U.S. House, Texas District 23
?Mixed
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: In a March 2026 interview she said the most helpful thing in any conflict is to "really kind of understand both sides", without saying where she stands on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. Reviewed by hand on 2026-10-09. This candidate has no recorded tracked floor votes.
In March 2026 Padilla Stout said she would consider U.S. aid to the government of Israel on a "case-by-case basis" and would wait until elected to fully set out her views. She said she does not know enough about the Gaza conflict to judge whether it is a genocide.
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Padilla Stout is a San Antonio attorney, a former public school teacher and a child welfare advocate. She won the Democratic primary in Texas’s 23rd District on March 3, 2026.
She has said she will wait until she is elected to set out her views. In a March 2026 interview with Jewish Insider, she said she would consider U.S. aid to the government of Israel on a "case-by-case basis", and that she does not know enough about the conflict in Gaza to judge whether it is a genocide. Jewish Insider reported that she largely declined to weigh in on Israel or Middle East policy, citing her lack of access to the sensitive information members of Congress can see, and quoted her: "First and foremost, I always stand for happy, healthy families, whether that be, you know, here or across the world, and making sure that our children are protected and making sure that we’re taking care of our most vulnerable". She said she has talked the conflict through with a Jewish friend whose son serves in the Israeli military and with a Palestinian friend: "That’s the most helpful thing we can always do in any kind of conflict situation, is to really kind of understand both sides, right, see where the dialogue breakdown is occurring."
That is the whole of her record on what America sends, and she has not settled it in either direction.
Most of the interview concerned her opponent. She said she felt a "deep sense of disgust" at Brandon Herrera’s past videos and dismissed his claim that they were meant in jest: "Everybody who watched it understood that he was normalizing that and that it wasn’t funny, and it wasn’t about humor". She added: "It was about doing something that was harmful to our society and desensitizing people."
She has held no federal office and has no recorded votes on any of this.
The money
Checked the five lobbying groups we track; no direct 2026 support found
2026 support from the five lobbying groups we track
Nothing recorded (as of 2026-07-23) from the five lobbying groups we track; earlier cycles and earmarked donations not yet tracked.
Support-only OpenFEC data. Opposition independent expenditures are excluded.
In their words
“First and foremost, I always stand for happy, healthy families, whether that be, you know, here or across the world, and making sure that our children are protected and making sure that we’re taking care of our most vulnerable”
“That’s the most helpful thing we can always do in any kind of conflict situation, is to really kind of understand both sides, right, see where the dialogue breakdown is occurring.”
The notes behind this card: what we looked at, what we found, and where each item came from.
Every page cited below was opened and read on 2026-09-25 unless marked otherwise. Bands: Position (2024-01-26 onward), Reaction window (2023-10-07 to 2024-01-25), Earlier record (before 2023-10-07), Undated.
U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel
[Position, 2026-03-19] In an interview published by Jewish Insider, she said she would consider U.S. aid to the government of Israel on a "case-by-case basis". Jewish Insider reported: "Padilla Stout largely declined to weigh in on Israel or Middle East policy, citing her lack of access to sensitive information that members of Congress can access. She said she would wait until she’s elected in order to more fully articulate her views." It quoted her: "First and foremost, I always stand for happy, healthy families, whether that be, you know, here or across the world, and making sure that our children are protected and making sure that we’re taking care of our most vulnerable".
She has not said whether she would support or oppose any particular aid to the government of Israel.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
Nothing located, in either direction.
Characterization of the conflict
[Position, 2026-03-19] She said she does not know enough about the conflict in Gaza to judge whether it is a genocide (Jewish Insider).
[Position, 2026-03-19] She said she has discussed the conflict with a Jewish friend whose son is serving in the Israel Defense Forces and with a Palestinian friend, from whom she has heard different perspectives, and said: "That’s the most helpful thing we can always do in any kind of conflict situation, is to really kind of understand both sides, right, see where the dialogue breakdown is occurring." (Jewish Insider)
Related rhetoric and lobbying
Nothing located: no statement on lobbying organizations or on anti-boycott legislation.
Safety and antisemitism (context, not a position on what America sends)
[Position, 2026-03-19] She said she felt a "deep sense of disgust" at her general-election opponent Brandon Herrera's past videos featuring Nazi weaponry, imagery and jokes about the Holocaust, and called the pattern "really concerning". She dismissed his claim that the content was intended in jest: "Everybody who watched it understood that he was normalizing that and that it wasn’t funny, and it wasn’t about humor," and "It was about doing something that was harmful to our society and desensitizing people." (Jewish Insider)
[Position, 2026-03-19] Asked how she would tackle rising antisemitism in the United States, she "called for stronger laws against hate crimes to protect all communities targeted by bigotry and ensure that such crimes are properly prosecuted and punished", Jewish Insider reported (Jewish Insider).
[Position, 2026-03-07; read 2026-08-11] The Times of Israel reported the incumbent's withdrawal from the Republican primary and his description of Herrera. That is the incumbent's characterization of a third party and is recorded here as context for what her interview was about.
What the campaign site and own pages say
[Position, read 2026-09-25; page modified 2026-04-18] Her campaign issues page covers the Big Bend border wall, cost of living, healthcare, universal pre-K, climate change, free and fair elections, immigration, gun violence and reproductive rights. It does not mention Israel, Gaza, Palestinians or foreign aid, and neither does her home page.
The race
Her Republican opponent is Brandon Herrera.
Not on the card, and why
Her call for stronger hate-crime laws: context on antisemitism, not a position on what the United States sends; research page only.
The Times of Israel report on the incumbent's description of her opponent: a third party's characterization; research page only.
Sources retrieved for this card (address; opened or could not open; date)
https://jewishinsider.com/2026/03/brandon-herrera-katy-padilla-stout-texas-flip/ (opened 2026-09-25; published 2026-03-19)
https://jewishinsider.com/2026/03/daily-kickoff-gas-field-gaslighting/ (opened 2026-09-25; a Jewish Insider newsletter of 2026-03-19 that announces the interview: "We interview Katy Padilla Stout")
https://www.facebook.com/texaspublicradio/videos/katy-padilla-stout-is-introducing-herself-to-voters-in-texas-23rd-congressional-/1265350835788780/ (a Texas Public Radio video introducing her to voters; nothing from it is quoted here)
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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