Missouri Representative Cori Bush was ousted in her state’s Democratic primary on Tuesday, a sign of the continued fractions within the Democratic Party over U.S. policy in Israel.
The Associated Press (AP) called Missouri’s 1st Congressional District primary at 11 p.m. EST for Wesley Bell, the St. Louis county prosecuting attorney who was backed by the established pro-Israel political action committee, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
The race was called with 94 percent of the votes counted. At the time, Bell had 51 percent of the vote, while Bush had 45.7 percent.
“I am deeply honored and humbled by the trust the people of this district have placed in me,” Bell said in a statement, adding that he is “committed to serving the St. Louis region in Congress with integrity, transparency, and dedication.”
Democrats have been divided over Washington’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza up and down the ballot. While President Joe Biden‘s administration and many established party members have stood firm in Washington’s backing of Israel since the Hamas attacks on October 7, some progressive members of Congress have pushed for the U.S. to pull back on its aid to Israel’s military.
Photo by ALLISON BAILEY/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images
Around 1,200 people were killed and over 200 others were taken hostage in the October 7 attacks on Israel. Palestinian health officials have said that more than 39,000 people have been killed in Gaza by Israel’s military response, according to reports by the Associated Press. Several agencies have also warned of a growing humanitarian crisis for Palestinians still in the Gaza Strip.
Bush, who was elected to represent Missouri’s 1st Congressional District in 2020, is a part of the progressive group of Democratic House lawmakers known as “the Squad,” whose members have been some of the loudest critics of the Biden administration’s policies regarding the Israel-Hamas war.
The congresswoman was among several Democratic lawmakers who boycotted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s address to a joint session of Congress last month. In a statement at the time, Bush accused pro-Israel lawmakers of “continuing to green-light genocide” and “actively celebrating the man at the forefront of that genocide.”
Bell, conversely, has promised to “fight to make sure the United States remains Israel’s strongest ally” if elected to Congress. AIPAC also spent more than $8 million in advertisements supporting Bell’s primary run, according to The New York Times.
“The Many have spoken!” AIPAC wrote in a post to X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday night to congratulate Bell on his “big win against anti-Israel Squad member Rep. Cori Bush!”
“AIPAC and our 4.5 million grassroots members are proud to stand with Wesley Bell! Being pro-Israel is good policy and good politics!” the post added.
Newsweek reached out to Bush’s press team via email for comment late Tuesday night.
Another member of “the Squad” lost their primary this election cycle to a candidate backed by AIPAC: Congressman Jamaal Brown of New York’s 16th District was defeated by Westchester County Executive George Latimer in June. AP reported that the pro-Israel PAC spent nearly $15 million in support of the race by Latimer, who will face GOP candidate Miriam Flisser in November.
Polling released last week—conducted on behalf of the Democratic Majority for Israel, a PAC associated with AIPAC—showed that Bush was 6 points behind Bell in the primary, losing 42 percent to 48 percent. But Bush doubled down on her Israel stance in the days leading up to the primary vote, including stopping short of defining Hamas as a terrorist organization during an interview with The New York Times on Monday.
“We were called terrorists during Ferguson,” Bush said, referring to the protests that broke out in 2014 after 18-year-old Michael Brown, unarmed and Black, was killed by a white police officer.
“Have they [Hamas] hurt people? Absolutely,” she added. “Has the Israeli military hurt people? Absolutely.”
Update 08/06/24, 11:40 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional comment from AIPAC and Bell.