Rep. Cori Bush loses Democratic primary after campaign onslaught from pro-Israel groups

Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., has lost her primary, handing a pro-Israel group another victory against a member of the progressive “squad” of lawmakers.

St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell has defeated Bush, NBC News projects. Bell is expected to carry Missouri’s deep-blue 1st Congressional District in November after a primary that exposed the party’s divisions on Israel, with Bush a vocal critic of the Israeli government and the country’s response to Hamas’ terrorist attacks on Oct. 7. 

“I’ll be a progressive member of Congress, but I’m also going to be a practical member of Congress,” Bell told NBC News over the weekend. “I recognize that we can’t get anything done without majorities, and so that means we need to work with our fellow Democrats up there, and we also when we can reach across the aisle and work with folks to get things done for this region and for this country.” 

United Democracy Project, a super PAC tied to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobby, poured nearly $9 million onto the airwaves attacking Bush and boosting Bell. Bell had initially been running for the Senate, but he decided to challenge Bush in a primary a few weeks after the Hamas attacks on Israel.

And the massive funding made the primary one of Tuesday’s highest-profile races, as voters in Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Washington voted for nominees in congressional races.

While Bush’s criticism of Israel drew millions of dollars into the race, the candidates launched other attacks against each other. Bell argued that Bush has not been an effective congresswoman, pointing to her votes against the bipartisan infrastructure package and the child tax credit. 

Bush, meanwhile, focused her closing argument against Bell about the failure to bring charges against the police officer who killed 18-year-old Michael Brown in 2014, featuring Brown’s father in her final ad of the race. 

The fallout from Brown’s killing propelled both Bush’s and Bell’s careers — Bell as a prosecutor focused on police reform and Bush as a Black Lives Matter activist. 

Bush indicated she may not be disappearing from political life.

“One thing I don’t do is go away,” Bush told NBC News over the weekend, noting that she made unsuccessful runs for Congress before her primary victory against longtime Democratic Rep. William Lacy Clay Jr. in 2020.

“The thing is it’s not about me. So do we have a ‘Medicare for All’ right now? No. And so what happens on Aug. 6, it’s not going to be delivered that day,” she added later. “So then that means that I still have to work for those things. I’m in the community, and I’m trying to have change for the community. And so I won’t stop just because of a title change.”

Bush wasn’t the only Democratic incumbent facing a primary challenge Tuesday, but she was the only one who lost. Rep. Shri Thanedar won his primary against Detroit City Council Member Mary Waters, NBC News projects.

Battleground Senate matchup set

Tuesday’s primaries also set the general election in Michigan’s Senate race, with Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin and GOP former Rep. Mike Rogers winning their primaries, NBC News projects.

Michigan will be crucial in the battles for the Senate and the White House. 

Slotkin and Rogers were their party’s front-runners heading into Tuesday’s primaries. Slotkin, a prolific fundraiser who has spent more than $15 million on the race, defeated actor Hill Harper in the Democratic contest.

Rogers had former President Donald Trump’s endorsement, and some of his top GOP opponents ended their campaigns before the primary. Rogers defeated former Rep. Justin Amash to win the Republican nomination. 

The Michigan race is expected to be one of the most competitive in the country. President Joe Biden won the state by less than 3 percentage points in 2020.  

Slotkin’s Senate run also opened up her competitive 7th District, and the parties had coalesced around two former state senators: Republican Tom Barrett, who lost a close race to Slotkin two years ago, and Democrat Curtis Hertel.

Democratic state Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet and Republican Paul Junge won their respective primaries in Michigan’s competitive 8th District, NBC News projects, setting the matchup in the open seat contest to replace retiring Democratic Rep. Dan Kildee. 

Junge is a former criminal prosecutor and TV news anchor who served in the Trump administration and had Trump’s endorsement in the primary. Junge also ran against Kildee in 2022, and lost by 10 points.

In another House battleground, Republicans picked physician Prasnath Reddy to take on Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids in Kansas’ 3rd District. Davids has built up a financial advantage, with nearly $2.8 million in her campaign account ahead of the primary, while Reddy had $696,000 in his account.

And in Washington, Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez will have a rematch against Republican Joe Kent, The Associated Press projects. Kent is a controversial Army veteran who lost to Gluesenkamp Perez by 1 percentage point in 2022. 

Kent, who has faced allegations about his ties to extreme groups, had Trump’s endorsement in the primary, and he defeated Camas City Council member Leslie Lewallen for the GOP nomination. 

The 3rd District is a top target for Republicans, as Gluesenkamp Perez is one of five Democrats representing districts Trump won in 2020. 

The matchup was also set in Washington’s competitive 8th District, with Democratic Rep. Kim Schrier facing off against Republican Carmen Goers, a commercial banker, in November. 

Trump endorsement watch

Former state Attorney General Derek Schmidt won the GOP primary to replace retiring Republican Rep. Jake LaTurner in Kansas’ red 2nd District, the AP projects. Schmidt got a boost from Trump’s endorsement and from an outside group, Conservatives for American Excellence. 

It’s one of several Tuesday primaries in which Trump endorsed, including one in Washington featuring a rare Republican who voted to impeach him in 2021 and is still in Congress. GOP Rep. Dan Newhouse faces a pair of Trump-backed challengers in their all-party, top-two primary.

Trump also notched a win in Missouri’s deep-red 3rd District, where state Sen. Bob Onder won the Republican primary to replace retiring GOP Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer. 

The primary has attracted millions of dollars in outside spending. The conservative Club for Growth Action has backed Onder, while two establishment groups active in other GOP primaries, Conservatives for American Excellence and America Leads Action Inc., have launched ads attacking him.

Meanwhile, Missouri Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe won the GOP primary for governor in his state, the AP projects. Trump had hedged his bets in the race, endorsing Kehoe and two of the other top contenders, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and state Sen. Bill Eigel. 

Kehoe will face Democratic state Rep. Crystal Quade in November, but Republicans are expected to retain control of the Governor’s Mansion.