Rep. Cori Bush lost her primary, Mike Parson won a three-way gubernatorial race, and general election match-ups were decided for several key seats in Congress.
Voters in Michigan, Missouri, and Washington cast their ballots in primaries for several gubernatorial, congressional, and state office races on Aug. 6.
The day concluded with upsets and victories that revealed political shifts across the country in the leadup to Election Day in November. Here are key takeaways from the latest primary night.
The night’s biggest news was the
defeat of Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) by St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell in the Democratic Party’s primary for Missouri’s First Congressional District. Bell won with 51.6 percent of the vote to Bush’s 45.6 percent.
Bush is a Black Lives Matter activist and former nurse who was first elected to Congress in 2020, after winning an upset primary victory that year over 10-term Rep. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.). While in Congress, Bush joined the “Squad”—a group of progressive Democrat members—and attracted attention for both her left-wing policy views and her vociferous criticism of Israel in its war with the Hamas terrorist group.
Bush criticized Israel’s response to the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas, calling it an “ethnic cleansing campaign.”
Several Jewish groups
mobilized against Bush for allegedly “fanning the flames of anti-Semitism.”
The America Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) affiliated super PAC, United Democracy Project, spent more than $8.6 million to oppose Bush and support Bell’s campaign. The race became the second-most expensive House primary contest in U.S. history, with $18.2 million spent, according to
AdImpact.
“All they did was radicalize me, and so now they should be afraid,” Bush
said in an impassioned speech after the results were declared. “AIPAC, I’m coming to tear your kingdom down.”
Bush had long
trailed Bell in opinion polls ahead of the primary.
Bush is the second Squad member and Israel critic to lose a House Democrat primary in 2024. The first was Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), who, on June 26,
lost the primary in New York’s 16th Congressional District to a pro-Israel candidate.
Mike Kehoe Wins Missouri Gubernatorial Primary
Missouri Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe
won the competitive Republican gubernatorial primary, a three-way race against state Sen. Bill Eigel and Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, son of former Missouri governor, U.S. senator, and Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Kehoe earned 39.4 percent of the primary vote compared with 32.5 percent for Eigel and 23.2 percent for Ashcroft.
The victor of Missouri’s Republican gubernatorial primary is heavily favored to win the general election. The state leans heavily Republican, with a Cook Partisan Voting Index
score of R+10. As a result, the primary was highly contested, with several national figures endorsing different candidates.
Kehoe received the support of term-limited Gov. Mike Parson (R-Mo.), who appointed Kehoe as lieutenant governor in 2018. Eigel was
endorsed by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), a prominent populist Republican in Congress, while Ashcroft was supported by former Gov. Mike Huckabee of neighboring Arkansas. Former President Donald Trump
endorsed all three candidates, writing on Truth Social that “I can’t hurt two of them by Endorsing one. ... Choose any one of them—You can’t go wrong!”
Kehoe’s win was somewhat of an upset. Most
opinion polls ahead of the primary showed Ashcroft leading, although recent polls showed Kehoe and Ashcroft evenly matched. Ashcroft ended up placing third, behind Eigel.
Kehoe will face state House Minority Leader Crystal Quade in the general election.
Elissa Slotkin, Mike Rogers Win Michigan
In Michigan, Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) and former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) won the Democrat and Republican Senate primary elections, respectively. Their victories confirm the general election matchup in November for Michigan’s highly competitive Senate race to succeed retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.).Michigan’s race is a priority for Republicans as they seek to regain control of the Senate.
Recent presidential
polls have shown Trump, the Republican nominee, ahead in the state by several percentage points, which Republicans believe will have a down-ballot effect that can flip the seat held by Stabenow since 2001. However, Slotkin leads Rogers across all Senate opinion
polls by several percentage points.
The primary results were never in significant doubt. Rogers was
endorsed by Trump for his contest against former Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), a Trump critic, while Slotkin faced no significant challengers in the primary. Michigan has a Cook Partisan Voting Index score of
R+1.
Bob Ferguson Prevails in Washington
In Washington state, Democrat Attorney General Bob Ferguson placed first in the primary over dozens of candidates, with 45.5 percent of the vote. Former Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Wash.), who served seven terms in Congress, came in second with 27.9 percent of the vote.
Both Ferguson and Reichert will advance to the general election as the sole candidates on the ballot. In Washington’s nonpartisan blanket primary, all candidates are placed on the same ballot, and the top two advance to the general election, regardless of party.
Ferguson faced a primary challenge for Democratic support from state Sen. Mark Mullet, a Democrat who was endorsed by Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs. Mullet ended up with just 5.8 percent of the vote.
Washington has a Cook Partisan Voting Index score of D+8, meaning that Ferguson is likely to win in November.
Rematch for Gluesenkamp Perez and Kent
Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) and her Republican challenger Joe Kent advanced to the general election after Washington’s Third Congressional District primary. Gluesenkamp Perez placed first with 46.9 percent of the
vote, followed by Kent in second place with 38.4 percent.
The 2022 race between Gluesenkamp Perez and Kent was narrowly decided. Gluesenkamp Perez’s
margin of victory was 0.83 percent, or 2,629 votes. Gluesenkamp Perez, a first-term member, is regarded as one of the most vulnerable House Democrats in the 2024 election cycle; she is representing a Republican-leaning district in southwest Washington.
