William Lawrence
D · U.S. House, MI-7 · Tier 5
Tier 5, “Critical on most positions”
Won the Aug 4, 2026 MI-7 Democratic primary and faces Rep. Tom Barrett on Nov 3. Sunrise Movement co-founder who names “our arming and abetting of the genocide that Israel is committing in Gaza” among his top campaign priorities. In Michigan Public’s July 2026 candidate interview series he was the only one of the three MI-7 Democrats to raise Gaza, naming it unprompted in answer to the same opening “top three priorities” question put to Bridget Brink and Matt Maasdam, neither of whom did. In an April 2026 newsletter he pledged, “I will oppose all arms transfers to Israel as your next Congressman.” Asked about military aid to Israel in a Michigan Firsthand interview for The Livingston Post, published October 26, 2026, he said he would co-sponsor the Block the Bombs Act, citing, by the paper’s account, human rights violations involving U.S.-supplied weapons in Gaza, the West Bank and southern Lebanon: “I don’t think we should be sending bombs to facilitate war crimes. It’s just as simple as that.” Endorsed by Track AIPAC, Bernie Sanders and the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
A 5. He has said again and again, in his own words, that the United States must stop arming Israel. His platform says, “Most urgently, we must stop arming Israel, which is pursuing a genocide of Palestinians in Gaza with U.S. weapons and tax dollars”; his home page lists “Stop arms sales to Israel”; his April 2026 newsletter says, “I will oppose all arms transfers to Israel as your next Congressman”; and he repeated “stop arming Israel” at a July rally (JTA) and at the October 6 debate with Rep. Tom Barrett. None of it carves out defensive systems. He names the genocide unhedged; at a June forum, asked whether Israel’s war is a genocide, he was the only MI-7 Democrat to say yes. Counter-case: the newsletter would lift the halt once Israel’s “aggression has ceased, Palestinian statehood is recognized, and the region is stable,” an endgame close to a two-state frame, and the record is campaign-era only. Asked about military aid to Israel on October 26, 2026, he pointed to the Block the Bombs Act, which leaves Iron Dome alone. No BDS, anti-Zionist or right-of-return position is on record.
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).