St. Louis Chief Prosecutor Wesley Bell beats incumbent 'squad' member Cori Bush in Dem. primary

Incumbent Democratic Missouri House Representative Cori Bush was unseated by a primary challenge from the chief prosecutor for St. Louis County, Wesley Bell, in Tuesday's Democratic primary in Missouri’s first district.

Polls officially closed at 8:00 p.m. EST, and after three hours, with the majority of votes counted, Wesley Bell is the projected winner of the race with 51% support. Cori Bush has garnered nearly 46% support, according to NBC News. 

Bush is a progressive member of the “squad” and has faced criticism for her position on Israel and her use of campaign funds for security services.

AIPAC has spent close to $9 million to unseat Bush, according to NBC. Democratic Majority for Israel has spent close to $500,000 on Bell’s campaign as well. 

Bush has endorsed BDS, was one of two Congress members to vote against a measure to deny entry to the United States to the Hamas terrorists who perpetrated the October 7 attacks against Israel, and has refused to call Hamas a terrorist organization. 

She has also ardently supported the pro-Palestinian movement and has made it part of her platform that she wrote the Ceasefire Now proposal in October 2023.

Bell's support for Israel

Bell’s campaign website states, “Israel—the only democracy and strongest American ally in the Middle East—was attacked by terrorists on October 7. Israel has the right to defend itself and go after those who perpetrated those attacks. In Congress, I’ll fight to make sure the United States remains Israel’s strongest ally.”

A third candidate, Maria Chappelle-Nadal, has garnered nearly 3% of the votes.

Hannah Sarisohn contributed to this report.