Rep. Cori Bush (D) lost Tuesday’s Missouri primary, dealing another blow to the progressive “base” in Congress, according to Decision Desk HQ projections.
Bush lost the 1st District Democratic primary to St. Louis prosecutor Wesley Bell, making him the second member of the group to lose reelection, joining Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) earlier this year.
Bush, a racial justice activist, lost out on a third term in Congress because her race attracted disproportionate attention relative to the amount of money poured into it. Pro-Israel special interests contributed the most to the race, with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and its super PAC, the United Democracy Project (UDP), spending about $9 million to defeat Bush, a critic of Israel’s war against the terrorist organization Hamas.
Ahead of Election Day, Mr. Bush’s allies and campaign organizers worried that Mr. Bush might not be able to handle the money, sparking debate within the party over how to handle the grassroots movement. Some predicted that a high-profile defeat for Mr. Bush would cause candidates and strategists to rethink strategies they had used against better-funded opponents.
That reset could be imminent after Mr. Bush was found not to advance to the November general election, and Mr. Bell is expected to win the Democratic-held seat in the fall.
In addition to criticism over his stance on the Middle East conflict, Bush has also had to deal with the political fallout from a federal investigation into allegations that he improperly used campaign funds to obtain special security for the House of Representatives, allegations he has denied.
Tuesday night’s defeat is likely to leave progressives feeling even more anxious about their future in Congress, but the results of this election are mixed. While the losses of Bush and Bowman have alarmed progressives, other progressives, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), are expected to comfortably win reelection, and another progressive member, Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pennsylvania), won her primary election earlier this year despite being outfunded.
These mixed results raise questions about how progressive incumbents can best better-funded challengers.
