Rep. Cori Bush Loses Primary

U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) (C) and Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) hold up signs as President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address during a joint meeting of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol on March 7, 2024. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.—Another member of the “Squad” is headed out of Congress.

On Aug. 6, voters in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District chose Wesley Bell in the jurisdiction’s Democratic Party primary. As the predominantly black and urban district covering much of St. Louis and its northern suburbs is heavily Democratic, Bell will likely secure a seat in the House in November.

As of 12:45 a.m. on Aug. 7, with 95 percent of the vote counted, 51.2 percent of the district’s Democratic Party voters picked Bell, while 45.6 voted for Rep. Cori Bush’s (D-Mo.).

In a statement published on social media, Bell said his victory belongs to his volunteers and supporters. “I am committed to serving the St. Louis region in Congress with integrity, transparency, and dedication,” Bell said in an Aug. 6 X post. “Together, we will tackle the challenges ahead and build a community where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.”

The results were consistent with pre-election polling, which showed Bell taking a slight advantage over the incumbent. In the final days of the race, Bell also received a notable endorsement from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper.

Bell, the prosecuting attorney for St. Louis County, Missouri, since 2019, campaigned on the premise that Bush was too wrapped up in national political issues in Washington while he would be more focused on his constituents and their interests.

Bell’s victory will end Bush’s time in Washington. Bush was elected to Congress in 2020 after she unseated longtime former Democratic congressman Lacy Clay. Lacy Clay and his father, Bill Clay, represented Missouri’s 1st district from 1969 to 2020.

Bush is a member of the Squad, a group of nine far-left Democrats in the House. In this primary contest, she was targeted by a super political action committee associated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) with millions in negative spending.

As of Aug. 2, the United Democracy Project, a super PAC partially funded by AIPAC, had spent about $8.6 million to knock out Bush.

On its X account on Aug. 6, AIPAC said it and its “4.5 million grassroots members were proud to help progressive pro-Israel leader Wesley Bell defeat anti-Israel Squad member Rep. Cori Bush.”

In an Aug. 6 release, the United Democracy Project said it will continue its efforts to “support leaders working to strengthen the U.S.-Israel alliance while countering detractors in either political party.”

AIPAC’s endorsement message of Bell called Bush “a leading anti-Israel voice in Congress.”

In the House, Bush has repeatedly called for a cease-fire in the nearly year-old conflict between Israel and Hamas, and has called for the United States to end aid to Israel. She’s also said the Jewish state is committing a “war crime” and an “ethnic cleansing campaign” against Palestinians.

In an X post, political spending analysis firm AdImpact said more than $18.2 million had been spent on political advertising in the primary race as of Aug. 2, making it the second-most expensive primary contest ever.

The most expensive contest, according to Ad Impact, was this year’s Democratic primary in New York’s 16th Congressional District between another Squad member, Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), and Westchester County Executive George Latimer. The super PAC United Democracy Project, according to FEC records, threw about $9.8 million into that race for Latimer who beat out Bowman by a 17-point margin.