But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez
- Backed with $29K by PACs we track that support U.S. weapons funding for the government of Israel (lifetime)
- Endorsed by AIPAC +1 more
- Sits on House Appropriations
Gluesenkamp Perez says U.S. support must ensure Israel “can defend itself” while delivering humanitarian relief to civilians in Gaza. Confronted at a 2025 town hall, she said: “America’s national interest is better served when there is a liberal democracy in the Middle East, and right now, that is Israel.”
The email has replies@butwhatcanyoudo.org in cc, so we can post their answer on their page in their own words; remove it if you prefer. Keep the subject line as it is, add your name, and send.
You asked Marie Gluesenkamp Perez where they stand.
Deep Dive
Gluesenkamp Perez represents Washington’s 3rd District, the state’s rural southwest, and she is the sitting member in one of the country’s closest seats.
Her votes point both ways and the pattern is early-versus-later. She voted against the November 2023 standalone package and for the February and April 2024 bills and against both cutting amendments; no located statement explains the November exception, so that badge stands without her reasons. Explaining her February 2024 vote she said support was needed “to ensure our ally Israel, the only democracy in the region, can defend itself against terrorist threats and keep working to free the hostages taken by Hamas”, and her April statement paired replenishing stockpiles with humanitarian relief to civilians in Gaza. In the same February statement she wrote that “Both Israelis and Palestinians deserve the right to live with dignity, freedom, and security.”
She has defended the position to hostile rooms. At an August 2025 town hall in Longview, confronted by constituents over Gaza, she said the war could end if Hamas released the hostages, that she did not run for Congress to be a Middle East diplomat, and, defending the alliance: “I think it’s pretty important to have a country in the Middle East that doesn’t kill gay people.” An October 2025 interview with a critical outlet reports her adding “I’m not going to carry water for Netanyahu” while restating support for military aid.
Her statements from the weeks after the October 2023 attack, made as a Blue Dog Coalition co-chair, are on the research page.
The record
Supported sending weapons or funding in 5 of 6 tracked votes
House Committee on Appropriations
• One of only 16 House Democrats who joined most Republicans to vote Yes on H.R. 8369 (Israel Security Assistance Support Act), which sought to force the Biden administration to release weapons shipments it had paused; passed 224-187 on May 16, 2024.
• Co-signed the May 10, 2024 letter from 26 House Democrats (led by Reps. Gottheimer and Golden) to National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan criticizing the administration's pause on arms shipments to Israel and requesting a briefing on delivery of congressionally appropriated aid.
• Cosponsor of H.R. 1229, the United States-Israel Defense Partnership Act of 2025; not a sponsor of H.R. 3565, the Block the Bombs Act.
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.
See a dash? Ask the candidate where they stand, then send us their answer and we'll review it and update the mark. Or volunteer to help review candidates.
Voted to send weapons or funding in more than half of their recorded tracked votes. (Supported sending weapons or funding in 5 of 6 tracked votes.)
The money
$29K in lifetime support from the five lobbying groups we track
In their words
AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) PAC · DMFI PAC (2026 endorsement)
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
- Her recorded votes on the tracked bills appear as badges on this card and point both ways: against the November 2023 standalone package, for the 2024 bills, against both cutting amendments. No located statement explains the November exception. The grounding for each sits in the record section.
- [Position, 2024-02-07] Her statement on the Israel supplemental vote, quoted on the card and in the deep dive, including “the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust” characterization and the Israelis-and-Palestinians dignity sentence. Her own House site.
- [Position, 2024-04-20] Her statement on the April votes: help Israel defend itself, replenish stockpiles, humanitarian relief to civilians in Gaza. Her own site.
- [Position, 2025-08-14] The Longview town hall, per The Chronicle and The Reflector: the liberal-democracy sentence on the card, the hostages-end-the-war point, and the not-a-diplomat remark.
- [Position, 2025-10-07, single outlet] Current Affairs’ critical profile reports her restating support for military aid with “I’m not going to carry water for Netanyahu”; we could not corroborate the detail. Carried in the deep dive with the outlet named; the outlet’s own framing is not adopted.
- [Position, 2024-10, undated page] An interview is reported in which she grounded the aid conversation in October 7 and Israel’s right to defend itself; no distinct carrier beyond the items above was supplied.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
- [Position, 2024-04-20] The April statement’s humanitarian-relief pairing, above. [Position, 2024-02-07] The dignity sentence, above.
Characterization of the conflict
- [Reaction window, 2023-10-11] The Blue Dog Coalition releases: the pogrom-history characterization and the call to freeze $6 billion in Iranian assets, per her own site. Not on the card summary; the Iran content stays out of it in any case.
- [Position, 2025-08-14] The town-hall remarks above.
Related rhetoric and lobbying
- [Prior, 2023-07-17] Joined the House Democrats’ statement after Representative Jayapal’s remarks, per the lead office’s release: Israel “the only vibrant, progressive, and inclusive democracy in the region”. A joint statement, prior band. Tracked funding totals appear as a badge on this card.
Safety and antisemitism (context)
- [Prior, 2023-07-17] The same statement’s warning that anti-Zionist framing can embolden antisemitism.
- [Position, 2025-03-05] Co-sponsored the DETERRENT Act on foreign gifts to universities, per VoteWire. [Position, 2025-10-07] Co-sponsored the October 7 Remembrance Education Act, per the Washington Examiner, which does not name her in the text that was read and is recorded with that limit alongside the tracking claim from our search.
Race and status context
- Sitting representative in a toss-up seat, advanced from the August 2026 top-two primary; identity note: her compound surname is matched in full everywhere here.
Also in this race
- ✗Supports John Braun (Republican)
All Washington candidates.
See everyone on the Washington ballot →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.