Wesley Bell defeats Cori Bush in Missouri as AIPAC spending tops $3 million again

The rematch

Representative Wesley Bell defeated former Representative Cori Bush late Tuesday night in the Democratic congressional primary for Missouri's 1st district, the Associated Press projected. The race was a direct rematch of their 2024 contest, which Bell also won, and it drew an unusual level of outside spending. The district, anchored in St. Louis, leaned heavily Democratic; former Vice President Kamala Harris won it by 57 percentage points in the 2024 general election, according to the Axios report.

Bell, a former county prosecutor who rose to prominence after the 2014 Ferguson protests, held a 45-percentage-point lead with about a quarter of precincts reporting Tuesday evening. His campaign framed Bush as ineffective and criticized her vote against Joe Biden's 2021 infrastructure bill. Bush maintained that she opposed the bill only because it dropped promised social-services spending, and she argued that her remarks about Biden and Harris were taken out of context.

“One of us is of the people, by the people and for the people. The other one is paid for by AIPAC. That's the difference.”

Outside money

Outside groups poured resources into the race. The United Democracy Project, the super PAC arm of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), spent more than $3 million opposing Bush, according to the Guardian and Axios. POLITICO reported a figure of at least $2.1 million in advertising, tracked by AdImpact. The super PAC of the center-left New Democrat Coalition added another $1.1 million, and the American Bridge-affiliated Project 218 spent $250,000, according to Axios. Progressive groups backing Bush, including MoveOn and the Working Families Party, spent a combined total of slightly more than $200,000.

UDP / AIPAC3

New Democrat Coalition1.1

Project 2180.25

Progressive groups (MoveOn, WFP)0.2

UDP / AIPAC

3 $M

New Democrat Coalition

1.1 $M

Project 218

0.25 $M

Progressive groups (MoveOn, WFP)

0.2 $M

Data from the article text

Candidate finances

Bell out-raised and outspent Bush by wide margins. By July 15, Bell had raised nearly $3.6 million and spent more than $2.9 million. Bush raised $1.3 million and spent $1.2 million over the same period. Bell was endorsed by House Democratic leadership and the Congressional Black Caucus. Bush had the backing of Senator Bernie Sanders and left-wing organizations, notably the Democratic Socialists of America and the Justice Democrats.

Bell3.6

Bush1.3

Bell

3.6 $M

Bush

1.3 $M

Data from the article text

Israel and the progressive wave

Bush was among the first sitting members of Congress to describe Israel's military actions in Gaza as a "genocide," a position that, according to POLITICO, has gained traction among the Democratic electorate. Roughly half of adults who identify as Democrats believe that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians, according to a July AP-NORC poll cited by POLITICO. Bell described himself as pro-Israel while opposing the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The result marks a setback for the nascent run of progressive and socialist primary victories. In June, socialist candidates unseated three Democratic incumbents, including the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the New York Times reported. Bush's loss in St. Louis halted that momentum.

The race was not the only Tuesday contest testing the party's establishment wing. In Michigan, voters cast ballots in a Senate primary that pitted progressive Abdul El-Sayed against moderate Representative Haley Stevens, a race that POLITICO described as another check on voter attitudes toward AIPAC involvement.