Tipsheet

Another Squad Member Down: Cori Bush Loses Her Primary

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  August 06, 2024 10:30 PM

On Tuesday, voters headed to the polls for primary elections, including Missouri. The race to watch there, and of the night overall, was in the 1st Congressional District, where Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) faced a crowded primary field. Ultimately, she was beaten by DA Wesley Bell. 

Decision Desk HQ called the race a little bit past 10pm, just over two hours after polls closed.

Given the the bad polling and fundraising numbers that have followed her for months, Bush's loss does not come as a surprise. 

Although she and her allies liked to blame pro-Israel groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in the months leading up to her ultimate loss, Bush had been plagued by plenty of issues.

On Monday, the eve of her primary, The New York Times put out a piece highlighting some particularly insane comments she made about classifying Hamas as a terrorist organization. The congresswoman seemed to claim ignorance about Hamas, and even looked to compare radical Islamic terrorists to black people, though she claimed that wasn't what she was doing.

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Although a spokesperson offered a statement to the outlet offering that Bush did know Hamas is a terrorist organization, she still went with a narrative blaming "the far right."

As we also mentioned at the time, to remind about Bush's anti-Israel record:

As we have been covering since the October 7 attack, Bush and other members of the Squad have put their anti-Israel sentiments on display, including but not limited to calling for a ceasefire from the start. 

The report mentions how Bush, along with Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), were the only members who voted earlier this year against keeping Hamas terrorists and anyone else who participated in the October 7 attack from entering the United States. Fellow Squad member, Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL), voted present. Bush has consistently voted against other pieces of legislation dealing with support for Israel and countering antisemitism. 

When Israel faced an unprecedented attack from Iran in April, Bush's account had released a post as such news was coming in to rant against AIPAC. Although she took down her post, the post she was sharing from Justice Democrats remained, and she also ranted against Israel in a subsequent statement.

The congresswoman was also one of many Democratic members who boycotted the speech that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave for a joint session of Congress last month.

The outcome of the race was hailed by StopAntisemitism as "FANTASTIC NEWS!"

"Cori Bush" and "Wesley Bell" have also been trending over X, as many expressed anticipation about the race being called. 

Bush has yet to post about the outcome of the race. Her most recent post shared to X referenced a common refrain to complain about the money spent to oust her, which is that Bell was "still trying to buy this seat."

The congresswoman had also appeared to incorrectly refer to Bell as a Republican, per The New York Times report. "I’m not going to platform a Republican," Bush was quoted as saying. "If he was not taking all of this Republican money for a Democratic district, then there would be a conversation."

The congresswoman wasn't merely facing issues for her anti-Israel stance. She's also been plagued by a scandal involving the misuse of taxpayer funds to pay her security guard, who is also her husband, for which she is under investigation by the Department of Justice. Her stance on private security has been particularly hypocritical given what a staunch opponent she is of the Second Amendment. 

Bush is not the only Squad member to lose her primary. Soon to be former Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) lost his primary to Westchester County Executive George Latimer back in June, 58.4 percent to 41.6 percent of the vote.

For all this talk about a vote "to protect democracy," it's worth reminding that both Bush and Bowman came into office by unseating Democratic incumbents in primaries of their own. Bowman had defeated former Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel in 2020, while Bush had defeated former Democratic Rep. Lacy Clay.

With an estimated 52 percent of the vote reporting, Bell enjoys 54.3 percent of the vote to Bush's 42.4 percent.