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 McAdams

Democrat · U.S. House, Utah District 1
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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.

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No recorded votes on the bills we track. We found nothing in their own words about Israel, Gaza or the war.

Nothing located has McAdams taking a position on U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel, or on U.S. aid to Palestinians. His 2019 votes as a House member concerned the boycott movement and Israel’s right to self-defence, not what the U.S. sends. More is on the research page.

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Deep Dive

McAdams is the Democratic nominee in Utah’s 1st District, having represented the old 4th District from 2019 to 2021.

His congressional record carries the card: he co-sponsored and voted for H.Res. 246 opposing the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement and co-sponsored H.Res. 727 affirming Israel’s right to defend itself against Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket attacks, as itemized by the 71 Percent Coalition’s candidate scorecard, an advocacy group critical of U.S. Israel policy whose accounting of his votes is carried with that label. In August 2019 he joined the AIEF-sponsored congressional delegation to Israel, the AIPAC-affiliated educational trip taken by dozens of members that year.

In the 2026 primary his record drew fire from his left: progressive activists criticized his Israel-assistance record, his April 2026 convention speech was interrupted by a delegate protesting Gaza policy (a Salt Lake Tribune Facebook source, not yet confirmed), and the 71 Percent Coalition’s scorecard records that he declined its June 2026 Israel-policy town hall, their claim carried as theirs. Tracked support from Democratic Majority for Israel, a group that backs pro-Israel Democrats, appears as a badge on this card.

Two 2019 quotes the research offered from a JTA essay are not on the card summary: the piece is a first-person account of a talk by two congressmen, and its attributions do not isolate McAdams’s words. As mayor he signed the AJC’s 2015 Mayors United Against Antisemitism initiative and attended a 2018 vigil after the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting.

The money

$5K in lifetime support from the five lobbying groups we track

Lifetime support from the five lobbying groups we track
DMFI: $5,000
Support-only OpenFEC data (as of 2026-10-03). Opposition independent expenditures are excluded.
Who these lobbying groups are
DMFI PAC$5,000Democratic Majority for Israel's PAC; calls itself the home for pro-Israel Democrats and backs Democratic candidates who support a strong U.S. alliance with the government of Israel.Direct contributions and independent expenditures supporting this candidate from the five lobbying groups we track, every cycle each has filed, through 2026. Excludes earmarked and conduit contributions.

Research log

The notes behind this card: what we looked at, what we found, and where each item came from.

U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel

  • No tracked-bill votes: his House service (2019-21) predates the tracked set.
  • Nothing located as a position on U.S. weapons or money. His 2019 votes were H.Res. 246 on the boycott movement and H.Res. 727 on Israel’s right to self-defence, per the 71 Percent Coalition scorecard, an advocacy accounting carried with attribution; both are adjacent to this question rather than about it. A Gottheimer-amendment claim was dropped because the pages offered for it do not name him.

U.S. aid to Palestinians

  • Nothing located at any date.

Characterization of the conflict

  • [Dropped] Two October 2019 JTA-essay quotes (conflict complexity; partisanship warning); the essay’s attributions cover two congressmen jointly and do not isolate his words.

Related rhetoric and lobbying

  • [Action, 2019-08] The AIEF delegation trip; per contemporaneous coverage and trackers, reported, not confirmed directly.
  • [Attributed, 2026] Progressive criticism of his Israel-assistance record in the primary (Jacobin and local activists); the convention interruption (Tribune Facebook source, not yet confirmed); and the coalition’s declined-town-hall claim, all carried as their authors’.
  • Tracked committee support appears as a badge on this card.

Safety and antisemitism

  • [Action, 2015-11] The AJC Mayors United Against Antisemitism signature, per AJC materials.
  • [Action, 2018-10] The Pittsburgh-vigil attendance, per community coverage.

Race and status context

  • Democratic nominee in UT-1; his Republican opponent’s card carries its own record.

Also in this race

  1. – Riley Owen (Republican)
  2. – Jesse West (Libertarian)
  3. – Elias Henry Montgomery (Other)

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.