James Russell
D · U.S. House, AR-4 · Tier 3
Tier 3, “Pro-Israel, critical”
His campaign site carries the Citizens Against AIPAC pledge in his own words — “I refuse to accept funds from AIPAC” — and announcing a 2025 Senate bid he said, as the Arkansas Advocate reported it in August 2025, that his values include “opposing Israel’s mass killings of civilians in occupied Palestinian territory.” He is a mental-health practice manager and 2022 candidate for governor; he left iVoterGuide's question on the U.S.–Israel relationship unanswered. At the October 12, 2026 Arkansas TV debate with Rep. Bruce Westerman, asked what criteria should govern military aid, he said “we have to hold ourselves responsible for how our aid is actually being used,” that with Israel in Gaza “we see what could be tantamount to genocide that we do not need to be funding. That is blood on our hands,” and, after Westerman defended Israel, that U.S. aid must be “held in accord with Geneva Convention and other rules of engagement so that we do not find ourselves on the wrong side of history.”
A 3, on a thin record. At the October 12, 2026 debate with Rep. Bruce Westerman he said that with Israel in Gaza “we see what could be tantamount to genocide that we do not need to be funding. That is blood on our hands,” and that U.S. aid must be “held in accord with Geneva Convention and other rules of engagement”: the genocide named with a hedge, and aid conditioned on Israel’s conduct rather than ended. Announcing a 2025 Senate bid, the Arkansas Advocate reported, he named “opposing Israel’s mass killings of civilians in occupied Palestinian territory” among his values, and he refuses AIPAC money; nothing in his record is pro-Israel. In a KUAR interview published October 7, 2026, he said “I stand firmly with the Jewish community and I stand firmly with the people of Israel, but I cannot in any way endorse the actions of the Netanyahu regime” and “I don’t know when it became taboo to sit there and say that I don’t support genocide.” What holds him at 3: two October answers, a condition rather than a cutoff, and an issues page that still says nothing about Israel. Counter-case: 3/4, on a debate answer that ties Gaza to genocide and says the U.S. should not be funding it.
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elect26 places 2026 midterm candidates on a six-tier spectrum, from 1 (most pro-Israel) to 6 (most critical of Israel).