Democratic and GOP candidates in next month’s midterm elections have called for more scrutiny of direct foreign aid and money spent to fight wars. (Photo by Dana DiFilippo/New Jersey Monitor)
Foreign policy has taken an outsized role in the run-up to next month’s midterm elections, as candidates and voters alike increasingly blame the Iran war and new tariffs for worsening affordability at home and debate whether Israel is using U.S. aid to fight terrorism or wipe out Gaza.
In New Jersey, even Republicans who have been longtime loyalists to President Donald Trump fear the impact his foreign policy will have at the polls Nov. 3, as his approval ratings sink to new lows.
“He’s going to kill all of us in midterms,” said Republican Damon Galdo, who’s challenging Rep. Donald Norcross (D) in South Jersey’s 1st District. “Trump made a promise that gas prices would be low, he’d ‘drill baby drill,’ and then we get into this conflict, and gas prices are through the roof.”
In some ways, candidates running to represent New Jersey in Congress next year have not strayed far from their parties’ broad positions on Israel, Iran, and beyond.
Republicans cite concerns about Iran developing nuclear weapons to justify Trump’s actions there and regard aid to Israel and its military actions in the region as necessary to defend democracy in the Middle East.
Democrats blast Trump’s tendency to barge into international conflicts without Congress’ consent or consideration of the long-term implications, while the party’s more left-leaning factions have protested Israel’s attacks in Gaza as genocidal and demanded Israeli leaders be held accountable.
Yet Democratic and Republican candidates have called for more scrutiny of both direct foreign aid and money spent to fight wars as voters grow more anxious about the economy.
“It feels as though this government is much more focused on taking from the people here at home, while it’s at the same time giving to people overseas, and that doesn’t align with the needs of my constituents,” said Rachel Peace, a Democrat hoping to flip the 4th District Rep. Chris Smith (R) has held since 1981.
Galdo seconded that sentiment, saying: “We can’t be like an endless ATM.”
They also warn that Trump’s actions abroad have alienated allies, deepened discord globally, and radicalized a new generation of extremists.
“When you bomb a school and 120 kids die, all of those kids have fathers and older brothers. That is going to be a problem in the future. Those people don’t forget,” said Zack Mullock, a Democrat hoping to unseat Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R) in South Jersey’s 2nd District.
Most candidates want the war in Iran to end soon without sending in U.S. troops, but few see a sure path to that goal.
“We can continue to move towards victory the way we have been through our technology superiority and our drone and air superiority,” said Republican Joe Hathaway, a Republican hoping to unseat Rep. Analilia Mejia (D) in North Jersey’s 11th District. “I don’t believe we should be putting U.S. service members on the ground in Iran.”
Mejia and Adam Hamawy, a Democrat running to replace the retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman in Central Jersey’s 12th District, support impeaching Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who has been roundly criticized for his handling of the Iran war.
U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican who represents Kentucky, filed a resolution last month accusing Hegseth of violating Congress’ war powers, carrying out extrajudicial killings, and failing to minimize civilian casualties, among other things. But House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, sent members on recess until after the midterms, preventing a vote.
“I think there are some concerns within the caucus, the broader Democratic caucus, that, you know, we can’t get dragged into impeachment proceedings and instead we should focus on affordability. But I think that it is, we can walk and chew gum,” Mejia said.
Economists estimate the war, which started in February, has cost the average American household $2,000 so far, primarily by driving up energy costs.
On foreign aid, candidates have split opinions.
Israel has been the largest recipient of U.S. aid since World War II, collecting more than $300 billion since 1946, mostly in military aid, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
Hathaway regards such U.S. support as warranted, calling Israel our lone democratic ally in the Middle East.
“They are a huge economic partner to us as well, I think a $50 billion trade partner across the board. They share our democratic values. Oh, and by the way, they’re surrounded by other nations who would see them eradicated from the face of the Earth, and many of those same nations would see Americans eradicated from the face of the Earth,” Hathaway said. “So it is critically important that we stand in lockstep with our allies in Israel.”
Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat looking to retain the 5th District seat he has held since 2017, also has been a staunch supporter of Israel.
He has called for unconditional aid, denounced Palestinian solidarity college encampments and high school protests as antisemitic, and introduced legislation to bar U.S. aid to the United Nations until that group declares Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist groups.
During a recent event marking the third anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel, Gottheimer said: “We will speak the truth about October 7th. We will stand up to hate, wherever it rears its ugly head. And we will never stop fighting for the day when Hamas lays down its arms for good, and communities can live in peace free from terror.”
But other candidates, including Gottheimer’s Republican challenger, Sean Kirrane, believe aid to Israel should get a closer look.
Kirrane applauded the hold a top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee recently placed on the Trump administration’s $2.8 billion plan to sell Israel 40,000 one-ton bombs.
“That actually makes me happy because it shows me that there are some controls in place, and that someone is actually looking over their shoulder and just not handing out bombs and weapons,” Kirrane said.
As a businessman with a forensic auditing background, Kirrane said he supports audits of all government spending. Federal spending, including on foreign aid, is “not supportable by our GDP, and it’s not supportable by our tax base,” he added.
“If it can’t pass an audit, just like in corporate America, the program should be shut down or stalled until it can, and the people running the program should be held accountable for that,” Kirrane said.
Republican Michael McGuire, who’s challenging Rep. Herb Conaway (D) in Central Jersey’s 3rd District, echoed that sentiment.
“If you’re ever giving anyone money, you have a right to make sure it’s going to the proper channels, 100%,” McGuire said.
Any country that receives U.S. aid should submit to whatever restrictions America sets, with lawmakers taking their cues from the public, Mullock agreed.
“We have a democracy where we vote on what our tax dollars are used for, or at least vote for the folks who decide that,” Mullock said. “So I’m not writing anybody a blank check.”
