For the second time this election season, a “Squad” member of Congress has lost their reelection bid. Missouri Rep. Cori Bush was defeated in a Democratic primary that saw millions of dollars pour into her campaign in a race that was shaped by the ongoing war in Gaza.

War in Gaza dominates race

On Tuesday, St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell defeated Bush in the Democratic primary for Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, covering the city of St. Louis and parts of St. Louis County. Bell became the favorite in the race, dominated by the issue of the war in Gaza. Bush has courted controversy as one of the fiercest congressional critics against the war, calling it “ethnic cleansing” against Palestinians and opposing American support for Israel in the conflict. Bell, who switched from a Senate campaign to challenge Bush after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that set off the Gaza conflict, also presented himself as a progressive in the race but also expressed pro-Israel positions.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the leading pro-Israel lobby organization in the United Stats, spent more than $8 million against Bush, one of the largest sums ever spent on a congressional primary race.  

With the district leaning heavily Democratic, Bell is expected to win the general election in November.

Bush, the activist turned representative, has faced controversy

Bush, a nurse turned political activist, came to prominence during the 2014 Black Lives Matter protests in Ferguson, Missouri, after the death of Michael Brown in a confrontation with police. Bush was first elected to Congress in 2020 after renewed protests across the country after the murder of George Floyd. In Congress, she has championed progressive issues such as affordable housing.

However, her positions have also alienated her from members of her party. Most notably, she was one of only a few Democrats to vote against President Joe Biden’s major infrastructure bill, one of the main achievements of the administration, criticizing the bill for not going far enough in its social spending. More generally, Bush’s political adversaries have criticized her for missing votes in Congress and accused her of not doing enough to promote the interests of her district’s constituents.

‘All they did was radicalize me’

Bush’s defeat marks the second time this summer that one of the left-leaning “Squad” members has lost a primary in a race shaped by the issue of Israel and Gaza. Second-term New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman was the first Democratic incumbent of the 2024 election cycle to lose his primary in June after pro-Israel groups like AIPAC spent a record $15 million to beat him. Bush indicated that she is not going away despite her defeat, asserting, “All they did was radicalize me, so now they need to be afraid.” She promised that her political adversaries would see her “other side” and warned, “AIPAC, I’m coming to tear your kingdom down.”

For now, though, Tuesday’s election results have shown the impact of Gaza on the election, including dividing the Democratic Party on this issue and overlapping with a more general divide between moderate and progressive wings of the party. With conflict continuing in the Middle East and the U.S. general election three months away, American foreign policy and the differences between moderate and progressive Democrats will continue to be issues the party must resolve as it goes forward.

Cori BushWesley Bell