Daniel Cottam
I · U.S. House, UT-2 · Tier 2
Tier 2, “Mainstream pro-Israel”
A bariatric surgeon running as a Libertarian on balanced budgets, Medicare and Social Security reform and warrants for FISA searches; he says an official must say no “when the president wants to get us involved in a foreign war without our consent.” In the Utah Debate Commission’s 1st District debate (October 8, 2024), asked what he would do about Ukraine and the Middle East, he said “the conflicts in Ukraine and in Israel are paramount to the United States because we’ve signed agreements with those countries to protect both of them,” that “we do not need to give arms away to them. We can sell them arms and they should be able to defend themselves,” and that “the way that the Biden administration has been half-heartedly supporting Ukraine and Israel makes us look beyond weak.” He closed: “I support them as they defend themselves, but we don’t need to give them anything. They can buy it.”
A 2, on a thin record: one debate answer from his 2024 run. In the Utah Debate Commission’s 1st District debate in October 2024, he said the U.S. need not give Israel and Ukraine weapons but can sell them: “we do not need to give arms away to them. We can sell them arms and they should be able to defend themselves,” and “we don’t need to give them anything. They can buy it.” Ending the aid is an argument about who pays: U.S. weapons would keep reaching Israel by sale, and he says nothing about Gaza, Palestinians or how the weapons are used. Nothing found from his 2026 run mentions Israel: he left iVoterGuide’s Israel question unanswered, as in 2024, and has not answered Vote411; his one Ballotpedia survey (2024) has only a blanket war-powers point on foreign policy. FEC filings show no pro-Israel PAC money. Counter-case: 1/2, since in the same answer he called the conflicts “paramount to the United States” and faulted the Biden administration for “half-heartedly supporting Ukraine and Israel,” asking for firmer backing, not less.
Open the full card, with votes, money and every source, on elect26 →
elect26 places 2026 midterm candidates on a six-tier spectrum, from 1 (most pro-Israel) to 6 (most critical of Israel).