Rev. Emanuel Cleaver II, left, of Kansas City, talks with St. Louis County prosecutor Wesley Bell before the memorial service for former U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan in St. Louis on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024.
St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell has defeated U.S. Rep. Cori Bush in a Democratic primary in St. Louis, marking the second time this year that one of the party’s incumbents has been ousted in an expensive contest that reflected deep divisions over the war in Gaza.
Bush, a member of the progressive congressional group known as the “Squad,” was seeking a third term in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, which includes St. Louis city and part of St. Louis County. Bell is heavily favored to carry this overwhelmingly Democratic district in November, when his party is aiming to retake control of the U.S. House.
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“I am committed to serving the St. Louis region in Congress with integrity, transparency, and dedication,” Bell said in a statement. “Together, we will tackle the challenges ahead and build a community where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.”
Bush, in a fiery concession speech, said she still has work to do, even if she'll no longer be in Congress.
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“At the end of the day, whether I’m a congresswoman or not, I’m still taking care of my people,” Bush said.
Bell’s campaign received a big boost from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, whose super political action committee, United Democracy Project, spent $8.5 million to oust Bush. She was targeted after repeated criticism of Israel’s response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
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It was a gameplan that worked earlier this year in New York. In June, United Democracy Project spent $15 million to defeat another Squad member — U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman. Bowman lost to George Latimer, a pro-Israel centrist.
A statement from United Democracy Project said the wins by Bell and Latimer, along with John McGuire's defeat of U.S. Rep. Bob Good in a Republican primary last week in Virginia, “is further proof that being pro-Israel is good policy and good politics on both sides of the aisle. UDP will continue our efforts to support leaders working to strengthen the U.S.-Israel alliance while countering detractors in either political party.”
Bush, in her concession speech, said she won't change.
“We will keep supporting a free Palestine,” Bush said. A crowd member answered back: “Free, free Palestine.”
In October, Bush called the Israeli retaliation an “ethnic cleansing campaign.” Soon after the Hamas attack, Bush wrote on social media that Israel’s “collective punishment against Palestinians for Hamas’s actions is a war crime.”
Her comments prompted backlash, even among some supporters in her district. Bell, who had been planning a Senate run against incumbent Republican Josh Hawley, instead opted to challenge Bush. He told The Associated Press last month that Bush’s comments about Israel were “wrong and offensive.”
Bush responded by saying that the donors behind AIPAC support former President Donald Trump and other Republicans.
“This is only the beginning,” Bush told the AP. “Because if they can unseat me, then they’re going to continue to come after more Democrats.”
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Bush and Bell both honed their leadership skills in Ferguson, Missouri, in the unrest that followed Michael Brown’s death at the hands of a police officer in 2014. Friday marks the 10th anniversary of Brown’s death.
Brown, a Black 18-year-old, was walking with a friend on Aug. 9, 2014, when a white officer, Darren Wilson, confronted them. Wilson said he fired in self-defense because Brown was so enraged. Some witnesses said Brown, who was unarmed, had his hands up in surrender. Wilson was cleared of wrongdoing and resigned, and Brown’s death led to months of protests.
Bush, 48, became a protest leader. She was outspoken and critical of how police in Ferguson and other parts of the St. Louis region treated Black people. Her activism prompted an unsuccessful run against longtime incumbent 1st District Democrat William Lacy Clay in 2018, before she defeated him in 2020. She easily won reelection in 2022.
Bell, 49, began hosting conversations about community policing after Brown’s death. The lawyer, who previously served as a municipal prosecutor and judge, ran successfully for a seat on the Ferguson City Council before defeating seven-term incumbent St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch in the August 2018 Democratic primary.
As prosecutor, Bell reopened an examination into Brown’s death. He announced in July 2020 that while the investigation didn’t exonerate Wilson, there wasn’t enough evidence to charge him.
“My heart breaks” for Brown’s parents, Bell said at the time. “I know this is not the result they were looking for and that their pain will continue forever.”
Brown’s father, Michael Brown Sr., was featured in an ad for Bush.
“He used my family for power,” Brown says of Bell in the ad. “And now he’s trying to sell out St. Louis.”
Bush’s campaign focused on what she’s accomplished for St. Louis. She said her efforts have brought $2 billion to the 1st District and that it was her protest on the steps of the Capitol in 2021 that helped extend the federal eviction moratorium as part of the COVID-19 pandemic, aiding thousands of St. Louisans.
Bell touted his own progressive credentials. He noted that as a prosecutor he has said he will not prosecute any abortion cases in a state that bans the procedure in most instances. He created diversion programs to point people with mental health and substance abuse problems toward treatment instead of jail. And his office has expanded efforts to examine potential cases of wrongful convictions.
In Missouri’s 3rd District, which stretches from the western outskirts of the St. Louis region through central Missouri, the candidate with Trump's endorsement won. Bob Onder, a physician and also a former state senator, defeated former state Sen. Kurt Schaefer.
Trump wrote on Truth Social last month that Onder was “an incredible America First Patriot.” The former president wrote that Schaefer “is WEAK ON MAGA,” adding, “That’s all you have to know!”
The 3rd District is heavily Republican, and Onder will be favored against Democrat Bethany Mann, a political newcomer, in November.
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Summer Ballentine in Columbia, Missouri, contributed to this report.
