Wes Climer
R · U.S. House, SC-5 · Tier 1
Tier 1, “Firmly pro-Israel”
Asked by iVoterGuide in his 2024 state-senate race whether the U.S. relationship with Israel is important, he answered: “Israel is the United States’ most important ally in the Middle East. Our nations’ shared economic, social, military, and intelligence interests merit durable support and investment.” As a South Carolina state senator (since 2016) he voted for H.4042, which wrote the IHRA working definition of antisemitism, including its contemporary examples, into state law (Senate roll call 641, April 2024; passed 44-0), and he was among the full Senate's 46 sponsors of a May 2023 concurrent resolution recognizing Israel's 75th anniversary. In March 2026 he filed a state Senate bill, modeled on Texas’s designation of CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood, that would let the governor classify groups as “terrorist entities” and bar them from owning property in the state, arguing in a FITSNews op-ed that CAIR has been linked to “efforts that support Hamas.” The SC-5 Republican nominee for the open seat runs on backing President Trump's America First agenda.
A 1, on a thin record that rests on one bill of his own. In March 2026 he filed a South Carolina Senate bill, modeled on Texas’s designation of CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood, giving the governor “the authority to classify militant organizations as terrorist entities” and barring designated groups from owning property; his FITSNews op-ed argues that CAIR “has been repeatedly linked … to individuals and efforts that support Hamas.” AIPAC endorsed him, and $25,000 has come through its PAC this cycle. Asked by iVoterGuide in 2024 about the U.S. relationship with Israel, he called Israel “the United States’ most important ally in the Middle East,” with nothing on Gaza or Palestinian civilians, and as a state senator he voted for H.4042, which wrote the IHRA definition of antisemitism into state law (April 2024, 44-0). Counter-case: 1/2, since the bill copies Texas and is aimed at Muslim civil-rights groups (a York County Democrat said it targets a local Muslim community), not at Israel policy or protests against the genocide, and it is a single bill.
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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).