Representative Cori Bush, Democrat of Missouri, lost the primary, giving a pro-Israel group another victory against a member of the progressive “squad” of lawmakers.
St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell defeated Bush, NBC News projects. Bell is expected to carry Missouri’s 1st Congressional District in November after a primary that exposed the party’s divisions on Israel, with Bush a vocal critic of the Israeli government and the country’s response to the Hamas terrorist attacks on September 7. October.
“I will be a progressive member of Congress, but I will also be a practical member of Congress,” Bell told NBC News over the weekend. “I recognize that we can’t do anything without majorities, and that means we need to work with our Democratic colleagues up there, and also when we can reach across the aisle and work with people to get things done for this region and for this country.”
The United Democracy Project, a super PAC linked to the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC, poured nearly $9 million into the airwaves, attacking Bush and boosting Bell. The prosecutor had initially run for the Senate, but decided to challenge Bush in the primaries a few weeks after the Hamas attacks in Israel on October 7.
And the massive funding made the primary one of the highest-profile races on Tuesday, with voters in Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Washington voting for candidates in congressional races.
While Bush’s criticism of Israel has drawn millions of dollars into the race, the candidates have launched other attacks on each other. Bell argued that Bush has not been an effective congresswoman, pointing to her votes against the bipartisan infrastructure package and the child tax credit.
Meanwhile, Bush focused his closing argument against Bell on the failure to bring charges against the police officer who killed 18-year-old Michael Brown in 2014, featuring Brown’s father in his final race announcement.
The fallout from Brown’s murder boosted the careers of both Bush and Bell — Bell as a prosecutor focused on police reform, and Bush as a Black Lives Matter activist.
Bush indicated that she may not be disappearing from political life.
“One thing I don’t do is walk away,” Bush told NBC News over the weekend, noting that she ran unsuccessfully for Congress before her primary victory against longtime Democratic Rep. William Lacy Clay Jr.
“The thing is, it’s not about me. So do we have ‘Medicare for All’ at this point? No. And so what happens on August 6th will not be delivered that day,” she later added. “So that means I still have to work towards these things. I’m in the community and I’m trying to make changes for the community. And so I’m not going to stop just because of a title change.”
Set of clashes on the Senate battlefield
Tuesday’s primaries also marked the general election in the Michigan Senate race, with Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin and former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers winning their respective primaries, NBC News projects.
The state will be crucial in the battles for the Senate and the White House.
Both Slotkin and Rogers were the leaders of their parties before Tuesday’s primaries. Slotkin, a prolific fundraiser who has so far spent more than $15 million on the race, defeated actor Hill Harper in the Democratic race.
Rogers had Trump’s support in the race, and some of his main Republican opponents ended their campaigns before the primaries. Rogers defeated former Representative Justin Amash to win Republican approval.
The Michigan race is expected to be one of the most competitive in the country. President Joe Biden won the state by less than 3 percentage points in 2020.
Slotkin’s Senate bid also opened up her competitive 7th District, and the parties have coalesced around two former state senators in the race to replace her: Republican Tom Barrett, who lost a close race to Slotkin two years ago, and Democrat Curtis Hertel.
In another House battleground, Republicans chose physician Prasnath Reddy to face Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids in Kansas’ competitive 3rd District. Davids had built a financial advantage in the race, with nearly $2.8 million in her campaign account before the primary, while Reddy had $696,000 in hers.
Trump Endorsement Watch
Former state Attorney General Derek Schmidt won the GOP primary to replace retiring Republican Rep. Jake LaTurner in Kansas’ red 2nd District, the Associated Press projects. Schmidt received a boost from endorsements from Trump and an outside group, Conservatives for American Excellence.
It’s one of several Tuesday primaries backed by Trump, including one in Washington with a rare Republican who voted to impeach Trump in 2021 and is still in Congress. Republican Rep. Dan Newhouse is facing two Trump-backed challengers in two all-party primaries.
Trump also scored a victory in Missouri’s deep-red 3rd District, where state Sen. Bob Onder won the Republican primary to replace retiring Republican Rep. Blaine Leutkemeyer.
The primaries attracted millions of dollars in outside spending. The conservative Club for Growth Action supported Onder, while two establishment groups active in other GOP primaries, Conservatives for American Excellence and America Leads Action Inc., released ads attacking him.
Meanwhile, Missouri lieutenant governor Mike Kehoe has won the Republican Party primary for governor in his state, the Associated Press projects. Trump had hedged his bets in this race, supporting Kehoe and two of the other leading candidates, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and state Senator Bill Eigel.
Kehoe will face Democratic state Rep. Crystal Quade in November, but Republicans are expected to maintain control of the governor’s mansion.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
