Cori Bush falls to DA Wesley Bell, becomes second Squad member to lose her primary

In one of the biggest races of the day, progressive Congresswoman Cori Bush (D-MO) fell to defeat in the Democratic primary in Missouri's 1st Congressional District to County Attorney Wesley Bell, who won 51.2% of the vote with 95% of the precincts counted.

Bush, who got 45.6% of the vote, thus became the second Squad member to lose his primary amid heavy criticism by pro-Israel groups that are funding campaigns against anti-Semitic Democratic politicians. The first member of the progressive congressional group unseated was Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), who was defeated in June after facing a barrage of publicity from the United Democracy Project, which also endorsed Bell.

After defeating Bush, Bell, who serves as St. Louis County prosecutor, is now the heavy favorite to win Missouri's District 1 in November.

The county prosecutor promised during his campaign that he will be a progressive, but pragmatic congressman, disassociating himself from the ideological radicalism he accused Cori Bush of throughout the campaign.

"I’ll be a progressive member of Congress, but I’m also going to be a practical member of Congress," Bell told NBC News last week. "I recognize that we can’t get anything done without majorities, and so that means we need to work with our fellow Democrats up there, and we also when we can reach across the aisle and work with folks to get things done for this region and for this country."

The Bush-Bell primary exposed strong divisions in the Democratic Party over Israel, with radical progressive members of Congress who have chosen to sharply question the Israeli government over its response to last October's Hamas terror attacks.

For various anti-Semitic comments, Bush was targeted by pro-Israel groups, who funneled a large amount of money into boosting Bell's race, which eventually came to fruition.

Indeed, the county prosecutor's victory would not be understood without the support of the United Democracy Project, a super PAC linked to the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC that invested nearly $9,000,000 in ads questioning Bush.

The timing also greatly helped Bell, who decided to challenge Bush in the primary a few weeks after the Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7. Before that, the county prosecutor was running for the Senate.

In addition to questioning Bush's anti-Semitism, Bell also campaigned by questioning the Squad member's ineffectiveness as a congresswoman, recalling her votes against the bipartisan infrastructure package and the child tax credit.

Her negative record in Congress caused some local allies to distance themselves from the Democratic incumbent.

According to POLITICO, Bush was also negatively affected by a federal investigation this year into his campaign spending on security services.