After a fiercely competitive and historically expensive primary race, the Associated Press projects that St. Louis County prosecuting attorney Wesley Bell has won the Democratic primary in Missouri’s first Congressional district, beating incumbent progressive Rep. Cori Bush, who becomes the second member of the House “Squad” to be defeated during this primary cycle.
With 94% percent of the estimated vote in (according to the Associated Press’ estimate) as of around 11:00 p.m. ET, Bell leads with 51% of the vote, followed by Bush with 45.8% of the vote.
Bush is the third incumbent House member to lose a primary against a non-incumbent challenger.
A groundswell of outside spending thrust Bush’s race into very expensive territory, closely mirroring the fierce primary of fellow “Squad” member Rep. Jamaal Bowman in his New York race earlier this summer.
Nearly all the outside money in both races came from the United Democracy Project PAC, the fundraising arm affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, motivated in part by Bush’s vocal criticism of Israel in how it has carried out its war with Hamas in Gaza.
In this case, the United Democracy Project spent more than $7 million to challenge Bush and boost Bell.
