St. Louis County District Attorney Wesley Bell defeated Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) in a divisive primary election on Tuesday, upsetting the member of the progressive “squad” in one of the most expensive races in the country.
A native of the St. Louis area, Bell began as a public defender after attending the University of Missouri School of Law and later joining the Ferguson city council. His campaign website emphasized his community work during and after the 2015 Ferguson protests over the police killing of Michael Brown.
“Wesley worked directly to calm tensions between residents and police — sometimes physically standing between protesters and police,” Bell said. website readings. “On the Council, Wesley worked with the Department of Justice to reform Ferguson’s criminal justice system through police and court reform.”
Those same 2015 protests gave rise to Bush, who quickly became a prominent community activist before unseating a longtime Democrat for Congress in 2018. That same year, Bell was elected county attorney, due to her own outrage over a holder.
Bell’s tenure as county prosecutor was viewed favorably in comparison to that of his controversial municipal counterpart, Kim Gardner, who resigned last year following allegations of incompetence.
His campaign lasted standard democratic questions: criminal justice reform, protection of voting rights and access to abortion, among others – not very different from Bush’s positions – although the race was defined by each candidate’s position on Israel.
Bush was heavily criticized for his outspoken criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza. The squad member called the ongoing war “Israel’s ethnic cleansing campaign” and earlier this year introduced the Ceasefire Now Resolution. Some of his rhetoric has been met with backlash from other members of Congress, but also from constituents in his own district.
“I think [her] The comments show a lack of understanding of the nuances and complexities of an issue that has literally been hundreds of years in the making,” Bell said when he announced his campaign.
The pro-Israel group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) spent more than $8.5 million opposing Bush and supporting Bell in the primaries. This is the second time the group has successfully expelled a squad member due to their stance on Israel, following Rep. Jamaal Bowman (DN.Y.) last month.
Bell denied being recruited by AIPAC to run against Bush and said he never communicated directly with the group.
A total of $18 million was spent on the primary race, the second-largest of any Democratic primary ever, behind Bowman’s.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
