Courtesy of JTA. Photo credit: Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images
Rep. Cori Bush, a Missouri Democrat, joins university union representatives and other lawmakers at a press conference to advocate for the protection of free speech on campuses, at the U.S. Capitol, May 23, 2024
(JTA) — Democratic Rep. Cori Bush, a member of the hardline left-wing “Squad” that is harshly critical of Israel, was defeated in a St. Louis-area primary race by an opponent who attracted millions of dollars in pro-Israel money.
The Associated Press called the race for Wesley Bell, the St. Louis County prosecutor, Tuesday night as Bell led Bush 51.2% to 45.6% with more than 96% of the vote counted.
It was the second Democratic primary win for pro-Israel political action committees against a member of the Squad. In June, a similar coalition of groups spent $14 million to defeat New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman.
Ahead of the Missouri primary on Tuesday, political action committees affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee spent at least $9 million to defeat Bush, one of the first lawmakers to call for a ceasefire after Hamas launched a war with Israel on Oct. 7, and also a leader in efforts to defund aid to Israel. Progressive groups spent a smaller amount — though still in the millions — on behalf of Bush.
The anti-Bush ads, funded by an AIPAC-allied super PAC called the United Democracy Project, did not focus on her Israel record and instead echoed Bell’s claim that Bush was neglecting the district and was bucking the Democratic Party on key spending priorities to take ideological stands that could have cost local jobs. Both Bell and Bush had built reputations as progressive racial justice advocates, and were once allies.
But Bush’s opposition to Israel may have had an effect. Bell won big in St. Louis County, where most of the district’s 60,000 Jews reside. Bush was leading in St. Louis City, but not by enough of a margin to make a difference.
The bids to unseat Bush and Bowman were unusual in that they were also endorsed by the Jewish Democratic Council of America, a partisan group that rarely takes sides in primaries. There has been a similar phenomenon recently on the Republican side, as the Republican Jewish Coalition has increasingly targeted incumbents in its party perceived to be insufficiently pro-Israel.
In a statement, UDP said it would continue to target incumbents who are hostile to Israel, noting the defeats of Bowman and a hardline right-wing Virginia congressman, Rep. Bob Good. RJC had joined in the effort to oust Good.
“Bell’s win tonight, along with George Latimer’s (D) victory over Rep. Jamaal Bowman and John McGuire’s (R) defeat of Rep. Bob Good, is further proof that being pro-Israel is good policy and good politics on both sides of the aisle,” it said.
Bush’s win was not the only victory for pro-Israel Democrats on Tuesday. In Michigan, Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a Jewish Democrat with a background in national security, handily beat a progressive rival to win the party’s nomination for an open Senate seat. She will face Republican Mike Rogers in November.
Slotkin, a popular politician in a swing district, was until recently seen as the favorite in the general election, but she may face blowback from the state’s substantial number of Arab American voters who are disillusioned with how the Biden administration and Democrats generally have handled Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Michigan is home to the “Uncommitted” movement that aims to show Democrats that pro-Palestinian votes are not guaranteed. Slotkin, who as a congresswoman hewed to a generally pro-Israel outlook, has since Oct. 7 taken pains to reach out to the state’s Jewish and Arab American communities.
Bush, meanwhile, was one of two members of Congress to vote against a measure to deny entry to the United States to the Hamas terrorists who perpetrated the Oct. 7 massacre, which sparked the ongoing war in Gaza. She has declined to call Hamas a terror group, saying that racial justice protesters in Ferguson were also called terrorists (though her campaign later walked that statement back). She endorses the movement to boycott Israel.
Bell said he was not pleased with the amount of money coming in to the campaign. Bush and her allies made an issue of AIPAC’s involvement, calling the group “racist,” and fundraising off its hostility to Bush. AIPAC’s regular PAC also raised money for Bell.
“Voters across America are rejecting anti-Israel voices in favor of candidates who understand the vital importance of the U.S.-Israel relationship,” it said in a statement. “Including Republican Rep. Bob Good’s loss, Rep. Bush’s defeat represents the third incumbent to have lost over their lack of an ironclad commitment to standing with America’s ally Israel.”
Bush’s defeat comes just after Vice President Kamala Harris, the presidential nominee, selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro to be her running mate. A number of progressives launched a pressure campaign to keep Harris from picking Shapiro because of his pro-Israel views, though all of the leading contenders are supporters of Israel, leading to accusations of antisemitism. Critics of Israel celebrated Walz’s selection, although the Harris campaign said Shapiro’s views on Israel — which largely align with those of Harris and Walz — played no role in the consideration.
Democratic Majority for Israel, a PAC that spent at least $500,000 on the race, said Bush’s defeat was a repudiation of the far left.
“Wesley Bell’s victory and Cori Bush’s defeat underscore what we’ve seen in races across the country and throughout this election cycle — being pro-Israel is not just wise policy, but also smart politics,” said DMFI PAC chairman Mark Mellman. “And there’s another valuable lesson in these results — Democrats do not want division or extremism. They want the kind of progressive results Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have delivered by bringing people together.”
