Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., lost her primary contest against county prosecutor Wesley Bell on Tuesday, becoming the second progressive “Squad” member to be ousted from her seat in a contest that brought forth the Democratic party’s division over the war in Gaza.
Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., lost to challenger Wesley Bell in her primary contest on Tuesday.
The Associated Press called the race for Bell at 10:59 p.m. and with nearly all votes counted, the county prosecutor had secured 51.2% of the votes, compared to Bush’s 45.6%.
Bell is now a strong favorite to win the deep-blue Missouri 1st Congressional District, which covers the city of St. Louis and parts of St. Louis County.
The contest gained national attention as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) super PAC, United Democracy Project, spent heavily to target Bush after her criticism of Israel's conduct in the Gaza war.
Commenting on Bell’s victory the United Democracy Project said the results were “further proof that being pro-Israel is good policy” and the super PAC will continue its efforts to “support leaders working to strengthen the U.S.-Israel alliance.”
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More than $8.4 million. That is the amount of money the AIPAC surrogate poured into the the primary race in its bid to oust Cori Bush, according to the Associated Press.
Bush is the second progressive “Squad” member to lose her primary after Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., who lost to centrist challenger George Latimer. Bowman’s criticism of Israel’s actions in the Gaza conflict also made him a target of the AIPAC affiliate which spent nearly $15 million to target him. Like Bowman, Bush also criticized Israel’s military response in Gaza after Hamas’ October 7 terror attack calling it an “ethnic cleansing campaign” and “collective punishment against Palestinians for Hamas’s actions.” Bell, who has also positioned himself as a progressive on several issues, criticized Bush’s stance, saying it sends “the wrong message and we need to be sending to rogue nations and dictators and terrorist groups the message that that they cannot have missiles trained on Israel like we see with Hamas, like we see with Iran.”
‘Squad’ Rep. Jamaal Bowman Unseated By Latimer In Pricey New York Primary (Forbes)