Former Rep. Cori Bush hoped Tuesday’s Democratic primary in Missouri would mark the beginning of a political comeback. Instead, voters handed her a much more decisive defeat than the one that ended her congressional career two years ago.
With 99 percent of the vote counted Wednesday morning, incumbent Rep. Wesley Bell led Bush 59.2 percent to 36.9 percent, according to the Associated Press. In Missouri’s heavily Democratic 1st Congressional District, the result all but guarantees Bell another term in Congress.
The race had been closely watched because it was viewed as another test of the Democratic Party’s internal divisions over Israel, progressive politics, and the influence of outside advocacy groups.
Bush first rose to national prominence following the 2014 unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, after the shooting of Michael Brown. After several unsuccessful campaigns, she capitalized on the political environment of 2020 to defeat longtime Democratic Rep. William Lacy Clay and became one of the most recognizable members of the progressive bloc known as “the Squad.”
Her time in Congress, however, was marked by a series of controversies.
Cori Bush defiant in defeat: “All they did was radicalize me, so now they need to be afraid.”
“They about to see this other Cori, this other side,” she said. “AIPAC, I’m coming to tear your kingdom down.” pic.twitter.com/690T0aEhmZ
— Mark Maxwell (@MarkMaxwellTV) August 7, 2024
Bush drew criticism after advocating to defund the police while spending substantial campaign funds on private security. The issue intensified when it emerged that one of the security contractors she paid, Cortney Merritts, later became her husband. Reports also noted that Merritts did not hold an active security license during portions of that work.
In 2024, Bush also faced scrutiny over campaign spending on security, with multiple investigations examining those expenditures.
Her positions on Israel proved equally controversial.
Following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Bush became one of the chamber’s most outspoken critics of Israel’s military response. Before her 2024 primary defeat, she declined to describe Hamas as a terrorist organization during one interview, instead drawing comparisons between the group and Black Lives Matter activists.
“Have they hurt people? Absolutely. Has the Israeli military hurt people? Absolutely,” Bush said at the time.
Those comments became a focal point of the race as pro-Israel organizations invested heavily in support of Wesley Bell. Bell ultimately defeated Bush in the 2024 Democratic primary by just over five percentage points.
Rather than moderating her message after that loss, Bush argued that the defeat had strengthened her resolve.
She said at the time that outside groups may have believed they were removing her from power but had instead made her more determined.
“They’re about to see this other Cori, this other side,” Bush declared after the election. “AIPAC, I’m coming to tear your kingdom down!”
Heading into Tuesday’s rematch, Bush argued that attitudes inside the Democratic Party had shifted.
“I was pretty much isolated… because people were afraid that they would have problems if they associated with me,” she told The Washington Post. She suggested that heavy spending by pro-Israel organizations had discouraged other Democrats from publicly supporting candidates who challenged their positions.
I’m so proud to have the support of leaders from across St. Louis and the country as we fight to abolish ICE, build a Medicare for All system, and deliver a Green New Deal.
Today, we’ll show organized money that they can’t beat organized people. pic.twitter.com/G2krj3l4tL
— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) August 4, 2026
Bush believed the political climate had changed enough to make another run viable.
The voters reached a different conclusion.
Instead of improving on her previous showing, Bush lost by more than 22 percentage points, turning what had once been a competitive contest into a decisive rejection.
Bell summarized his argument against Bush during the campaign in an interview with the Associated Press.
“She’s not a serious candidate,” he said.
“In this election, the choices are clear. I wake up every day working for St. Louis, and the folks in St. Louis know that I’m going to wake up working for them. And then we’ve got an opponent, Cori, who wakes up thinking about Cori. And we’ve seen it over and over. And that’s why she was fired.”
