But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Alexander Valiensi Kent
Independent · U.S. House, Wisconsin District 3
–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 September 2026 has Kent taking a position on U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel, or on U.S. aid to Palestinians. His campaign is built on a proposal: that voters should decide every issue by an online yes-or-no vote.
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Alexander Valiensi Kent is running for Congress in Wisconsin's 3rd District as an independent. He is a social worker from La Crosse, the author of a 2024 book called Voter Directed Democracy, and the founder of the Voter Directed Network, a website built around the book's idea. He has never held federal office, so there are no congressional votes on this record. He faces Representative Derrick Van Orden, the Republican, Rebecca Cooke, the Democratic nominee, and Rustin Provance, another independent, on November 3.
His campaign is about how decisions should be made rather than about particular positions. In the Ballotpedia questionnaire he submitted on February 24, 2026 he calls himself "an Independent, Voter Directed, Zero Money, Progressive Libertarian" and writes: "Voters should directly Yes/No vote on all issues." He says an official elected on his model would "only represent the voter-determined Will of the People on every single issue." He has not applied that to this question, and the words Israel, Gaza and Palestinian appear nowhere in his questionnaire answers, in his campaign keynote or in the fifty-six pages of essays on the Voter Directed Network site. An empty record carries no implication either way.
His Facebook account, which PBS Wisconsin lists as his campaign's social media, could not be read here. Its address is on his research page so that anyone who can open it may look.
You are better placed to change this than we are. Ask Kent 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.
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 2026-09-27) from the five lobbying groups we track; earlier cycles and earmarked donations not yet tracked.
Support-only OpenFEC data. Opposition independent expenditures are excluded.
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 2026-09-28 unless the entry says otherwise. His Ballotpedia page and his Candidate Connection answers were read in full, along with his candidate page on the Voter Directed Network site, which PBS Wisconsin lists as his campaign website, and every one of the fifty-six essay and policy pages that site links from its Issues and Essays index. Kent 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 falls in the reaction window or earlier.
U.S. military aid and weapons to the government of Israel
Nothing located, at any date. No statement by him about arms transfers, military aid, Foreign Military Financing, a condition on aid, or any bill on those subjects appears in his Ballotpedia answers, on his campaign page, in the essays on his site, or in any report read for this card.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
Nothing located, at any date. The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, humanitarian aid for Gaza and the aid pipeline appear nowhere in his published material.
Characterization of the conflict
Nothing located, at any date. The words Israel, Gaza, Palestinian, Hamas and Zionism appear nowhere in his Ballotpedia answers, his campaign keynote or the fifty-six essay pages. The word genocide occurs three times in the essays, each time as a general example of evil or of the harm prejudice can do, alongside slavery and the genocide of Indigenous peoples in America; none refers to Gaza.
Israel-related rhetoric and lobbying
Nothing located, at any date. No statement by him about the American Israel Public Affairs Committee or any other advocacy organization on this subject was found.
[Position, 2026-02-24] His Ballotpedia questionnaire says: "Zero Money- Our campaign isn't taking any money from anyone or any group." His campaign keynote calls for "a political system with no donors, no lobbyists, no Super PACs, and no political parties." Neither names an organization on this subject, and a refusal to take money is recorded here as a statement about his own campaign, not as a position on what the United States sends.
Safety and antisemitism (context, not an answer to what America sends)
Nothing located, at any date. The Voter Directed Network site carries an identity politics policy against prejudice toward any religious or other group; it names no community in particular.
What the campaign site and own pages say
[Position, 2026-02-24] Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, submitted February 24, 2026 per the page's footnote. He answered all three open questions. He describes himself: "I'm an Independent, Voter Directed, Zero Money, Progressive Libertarian from La Crosse, Wisconsin." His three key messages are headed Voter Directed, Progressive and Libertarian. Asked which areas of public policy he is personally passionate about, he answered about using the Voter Directed Network to determine the will of the people, and wrote: "Voters should directly Yes/No vote on all issues." No question on the form is about foreign policy, and he raised none. The same page records $0 in campaign contributions for 2026.
[Undated; read 2026-09-28] His candidate page on the Voter Directed Network site carries a long keynote, "The Online Political Evolution", setting out three ideas: full voter empowerment through issue-by-issue online voting, ending political corruption, and servant leadership. It says voters, "when given a choice", "overwhelmingly choose peace over violence." It names no country and no foreign policy question.
[Undated; read 2026-09-28] The site's Issues and Essays index links fifty-six pages, all read, including About the Author, which confirms he lives in La Crosse, holds a social work degree from Viterbo University and a master's degree from the University of Chicago, and describes himself as the founder of the Voter Directed Network. The essays are about party politics, corruption, direct voting, identity politics and the author's philosophy. Foreign policy is mentioned twice, both times as something the party system does badly, and no country is named.
[Read 2026-09-28] iVoterGuide's profile of him marks every question "Did not answer", including one asking whether the United States' relationship with Israel is important. Because he answered nothing on that form, on any subject, this is a fact about the guide's coverage and not about his views.
[Undated; read 2026-09-28] The 9to5 advocacy group's 2026 Wisconsin candidate questionnaire, on child care, paid leave and maternal health, carries the same answer from him to all three questions, signed "Founder, Voter Directed Network": an argument that party politics blocks help for families and that the Online Political Evolution is the change needed. It does not concern foreign policy.
[Position, 2026-07-29] The Pierce County Journal's guide to the District 3 candidates, by Joseph Back, published July 29, 2026, carries his questionnaire answers on his background, his philosophy of representation, his most important issue and why voters should choose him. They set out his three pillars (full voter empowerment, ending political corruption and servant leadership) and call the party system the country's biggest problem. None concerns foreign policy. It gives his age as 35.
[Read 2026-09-28] PBS Wisconsin's candidate page lists him as an independent for the 3rd District, gives the Voter Directed Network as his campaign website and links his Facebook account.
The race
[Read 2026-09-28] Ballotpedia's page for the 2026 election in Wisconsin's 3rd District lists Derrick Van Orden, the Republican incumbent, Rebecca Cooke, the Democrat, and two independents, Kent and Rustin Provance, in the general election on November 3, 2026. Cooke won the Democratic primary on August 11, 2026, and Van Orden advanced from the Republican primary the same day.
Places that could not be read, so nothing is claimed from them
His Facebook account, https://www.facebook.com/alexander.valiensi.kent/ , listed by Ballotpedia and PBS Wisconsin, returned nothing readable. His LinkedIn profile, https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-valiensi-kent/ , requires a signed-in reader. Their addresses are printed rather than linked because they do not open here.
https://www.localcandidates.org/politicians/alexander-valiensi-kent/about/ae83055e-bbcb-4ed6-9d19-48892452bc37 , a host that does not render for us and that this project does not use.
Not on the card, and why
His essays and keynote on direct online voting, corruption, party politics and identity: real positions, but not about U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel, or about U.S. aid to Palestinians. They are described above so the absence can be checked.
His campaign's refusal to take money from anyone: a statement about his own campaign finances, naming no organization.
The rest of the field's records: Derrick Van Orden's, Rebecca Cooke's and Rustin Provance's material belongs on their own cards.
Sources retrieved for this card (address; opened or could not open; date)
https://www.voterdirectednetwork.com/essays and the fifty-six pages it links, including https://www.voterdirectednetwork.com/about-the-author (opened; 2026-09-28)
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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