Rep. Cori Bush (D-Missouri) suffered a shocking defeat in the Democratic primary for Missouri’s 1st Congressional District on Tuesday, becoming the second member of the far-left “Squad” of lawmakers to lose in the 2024 Democratic primary.
Bush, 48, lost the primary to St. Louis County Attorney Wesley Bell by 5.3 percentage points. The Associated Press reported at 11 p.m., with 94 percent of the votes counted, that Bell was leading Bush, 51 percent to 45.7 percent.
The two-term congresswoman’s loss follows a crushing defeat for fellow Squad member Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) in the June Democratic primary for New York’s 16th District, where the fire alarm-pulling congressman lost by about 17 percentage points to Westchester County Mayor George Latimer.
Bush’s campaign, like Bowman’s, was pitted against far-left Democrats against moderates disgusted by his stance on Israel.
The Missouri Democrat was an early supporter of a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas and has criticized the Jewish state following the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attacks.
Bush was one of two House members, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who voted against the bill, which seeks to ban Hamas terrorists involved in last October’s attack on Israel from entering the United States.
Last year, Bush was one of nine House Democrats who voted against a resolution condemning Hamas for the attacks that killed 1,400 people.
She also accused Israel of conducting a “campaign of ethnic cleansing” in Gaza, characterizing the act of hostilities as “collective punishment against the Palestinian people” and alleging that President Bush committed “war crimes.”
Bell, who has campaigned from a center-right position against far-left opponents, told the Associated Press that Bush’s comments about Israel were “wrong and offensive.”
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) also targeted Bush, spending nearly $9 million to unseat the sitting congressman in a fight against his local prosecutor.
Bush also faced personal problems during the election campaign.
In January, she acknowledged that the Justice Department was investigating campaign spending on a security service that employed a former security guard who was married to her.
The Bush campaign tried to portray Bell as too conservative for Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, highlighting his past record as a Republican candidate in 2006.
The incumbent lost his seat despite having many coveted endorsements, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and the editorial board of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Support for Bell, a relatively unknown politician, has surged since January.
A January poll by the pro-Israel Democratic Majority group found Bell’s approval rating at just 29 percent, compared with Bush’s at 45 percent.
The same polling firm, the Melman Group, showed Bell leading by one point in late June.
A subsequent July poll conducted by McLaughlin and Associates for the CCA Action Fund showed Bush trailing Bell by double digits, 23 points, with less than a month until the election.
Bush’s seat in Missouri’s 1st District is one of two held by Democrats in the state’s congressional delegation.
Her loss came a week before fellow Squad member Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) faces off against former Minneapolis City Councilman Don Samuels in the Minnesota Democratic primary.
Bell will challenge one of Stan Hall, Andrew Jones or Michael Hebron in November, but as of this writing the Republican 1st District primary is tight, with Republicans trailing by single digits.
