Cori Bush, a socialist candidate who failed to take revenge on the Democrat who forced her out of Congress, lashed out after her primary loss.
“St. Louis lost,” Ms. Bush said of the district’s voting Tuesday that kept her out of office. “And it pisses me off that for the next two years, this community will be represented by someone who didn’t deem you valuable enough to show up to one candidate forum where there were audience comments.”
Ms. Bush lost to incumbent Rep. Wesley Bell, a mainstream Democrat, by over 20 points after unseating her in 2024 by just 5 percentage points.
“He ran a whole campaign on smears,” ranted Ms. Bush after the blowout defeat. “And nothing about what he’s done, because he hasn’t done anything.”
Ms. Bush touted endorsements from the Democratic Socialists of America and hard-left figures such as Sen. Bernard Sanders, Vermont independent, and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Michigan Democrat.
The former congresswoman’s humiliating loss is a departure from the recent trend of socialists defeating establishment Democrats in primaries.
Mr. Bell outraised Ms. Bush by a 3-1 margin, recording almost $3.6 million in total receipts by mid-July compared with her $1.3 million.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which advocates for U.S. support for Israel, gave Mr. Bell $2 million as of the end of June, making him the largest recipient of AIPAC cash among House candidates.
Mr. Bell has called Israel “one of our greatest allies” and also benefited from AIPAC’s support in 2024.
After Ms. Bush’s 2024 loss, she told AIPAC she was “coming to tear your kingdom down.”
The United Democracy Project, an AIPAC-affiliated committee, also ran ads highlighting Ms. Bush’s missed votes and attacks on fellow Democrats.
Ms. Bush vented about the funding disadvantage after her loss, saying “Republican billionaires” are seeking “to control this district.” She also claimed Mr. Bell is funded by Republicans “listed in the Epstein files,” referring to Justice Department documents on Jeffrey Epstein, the late sex offender.
“Maybe he’s already a Republican,” Ms. Bush said of Mr. Bell.
“People were deceived again, bamboozled again,” she added. “If somebody has to smear someone else with $5 million worth of lies … then that means that they have no story, they have no vision, they have no values for you.”
Ms. Bush first entered Congress in 2021, joining the ranks of the far-left Squad after rising as a Black Lives Matter activist.
She advocated defunding the police and opposed military aid to Israel.
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