Katy Padilla Stout
Padilla Stout says she would consider U.S. aid to Israel on a "case-by-case basis". She said she does not know enough about the conflict in Gaza to judge whether it is a genocide, and is working through it with friends on both sides.
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.
Her position is deliberately undecided and she said so plainly. In a March 2026 interview, read in full, she said she would consider U.S. aid to 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. The first search adds that she described working to understand different viewpoints by discussing it with a Palestinian friend and with a Jewish friend whose son serves in the Israel Defense Forces.
That is the whole of her located record on what America sends. The card does not resolve it in either direction, because she has not.
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. It was about doing something that was harmful to our society and desensitizing people." That is a statement about her opponent and about antisemitism rather than about U.S. aid, so it is on the research page.
She has held no federal office and has no recorded votes on any of this.
Research
U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel
- 2026-03-19 [Current position; card-leading; VERIFIED]: Per Jewish Insider, read in full: "She said she doesn't know enough about the conflict in Gaza to judge whether it is a genocide, and said that she would consider U.S. aid to Israel on a 'case-by-case basis.'"
⚠ **AN UNDECIDED POSITION IS STILL A POSITION AND IT MUST NOT BE RESOLVED FOR HER.** Case-by-case is neither support nor opposition. The card reports it as what it is, alongside her stated reason for not judging the genocide question.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
- Nothing located, in either direction.
Characterization of the conflict
- 2026-03-19 [Current position; VERIFIED]: She said she does not know enough about the conflict in Gaza to judge whether it is a genocide.
- 2026-03-19 [Current position]: The first search reports she described aiming to understand different viewpoints by discussing the issue with a Palestinian friend and with a Jewish friend whose son serves in the Israel Defense Forces. That specific detail was not located in the text read and is recorded as the first search’s.
Rhetoric and lobbying
- The first search’s own verdict: no public record of statements or policy positions on Israel-related rhetoric or lobbying.
Safety and antisemitism
[Context only, never the answer to what America sends. This is about her opponent.]
- 2026-03-19 [Current position; VERIFIED]: 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. It was about doing something that was harmful to our society and desensitizing people."
- 2026-03-07 [Current position]: 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.
Sources consulted and read
- The Jewish Insider interview, which carries everything verified here.
- Her Ballotpedia page.
- A Texas Public Radio video introducing her to voters, with no retrievable text.
- Three copies of a Jewish Insider daily newsletter which the first search records as not naming her.
What came back empty or unusable
- Seven sources, of which three are the same newsletter that does not name her and one is a video with no text. The effective source set is one interview plus a Ballotpedia page.
- No position located on U.S. aid to Palestinians.
- No campaign platform page was located for her.
Also in this race: Brandon Herrera (Republican) · All Texas candidates.
See the full record →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 the interactive card for votes, funding and contact details.