Adam Gray is a “Hamas terrorist sympathizer,” according to the Republicans’ congressional campaign arm.

He’s not.

Gray, a Democratic congressman from Merced, got the endorsement last year of the Jewish Democratic Council of America. As a congressman, his first vote on a U.S.-Israel issue this year was pro-Israel. His office calls the Republican claims of sympathy with Hamas an “outright lie.”

Gray was pictured last week in a National Republican Congressional Committee website post shaking hands with Gov. Gavin Newsom, a favorite Republican target.

“While the Trump administration stands firm on principles of national security, pro-Hamas Democrat Adam Gray has disgracefully chosen to align himself with the same campus radicals who terrorize Jewish students and openly sympathize with Hamas terrorists,” the GOP post said.

Committee spokesman Christian Martinez said on the website that Gray’s “record of aligning himself with antisemitic, pro-Hamas protestors makes one thing clear: Adam Gray is a terrorist sympathizer and anti-American.” There was no explanation of why Newsom was featured in the post.

The NRCC post links to a May 8, 2024 article in The Sacramento Bee that said spokespeople for Gray and Rudy Salas, a Democrat who ran unsuccessfully against Republican Rep. David Valadao in the nearby 22nd U.S. Congressional District, “did not respond to requests for comment about campus protests and a potential ceasefire deal.”

“They also didn’t respond to requests for comment last month on the Israel-Hamas War in Gaza,” the article said.

The NRCC also links to a Townhall.com report from April, 2024 about an Iran missile strike on Israel. It says Gray did not post any reaction. The site says it is the “leading source for conservative news and political commentary and analysis.”

Asked for further evidence last week and Monday that Gray was sympathetic to Hamas, the NRCC did not respond.

Gray is one of the Republicans’ top 2026 election targets. He won his race last year by less than 200 votes, and President Donald Trump won his Central Valley district by 5.5 percentage points.

Gray’s pro-Israel vote

During the 2024 campaign, Gray was endorsed by the Jewish Democratic Council of America. OpenSecrets, the nonpartisan group that tracks campaign money, found Gray received $20,819 during the campaign from pro-Israel interests.

At the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, regarded as the country’s most prominent pro-Israel advocacy group, spokesman Marhsall Wittman cited a Gray vote earlier this year where the congressman sided with pro-Israel interests.

“In his first vote in Congress on the U.S.-Israel relationship, Rep. Gray helped pass the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act to sanction those aiding the Court in its outrageous attack on our democratic ally, Israel,” Wittman said.

The court last year issued arrest warrants for Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former defense minister Yoav Gallant and a Hamas commander, claiming they had committed “crimes against humanity” because of Israel’s response to the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

More than 1,140 people were killed and 200 taken hostage in the Hamas attack. Israel’s retaliatory strikes on Gaza have killed an estimated 50,000 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The bipartisan House vote said the court had no such jurisdiction over Americans or citizens of allied countries. Gray was one of 44 Democrats to vote yes.

Gray was adamant that he does not sympathize with Hamas. Gray’s office issued a statement saying he “unequivocally condemns violence of any kind, including that perpetrated on and since October 7, 2023, by Hamas terrorists. To suggest otherwise is not only irresponsible but an outright lie.”

Gray said Israel is the United States’ most important Middle East ally.

“Any claim that Congressman Gray is anything but a staunch supporter of our ally Israel has no grounding in reality,” the Gray statement said.

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