Nearly Two-Thirds of All Campaign Funds for Cori Bush Challenger Came From AIPAC

Almost two-thirds of all campaign donations to St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell—who is seeking to oust Congresswoman Cori Bush in next week's Democratic primary for Missouri's 1st Congressional District—came from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's super PAC, according to reporting on Tuesday.

Sludge reported that Bell enjoys a 5:1 cash-on-hand advantage over Bush, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Overall, Bell's campaign raised $4.8 million while Bush's took in $2.9 million as of July 17 in what AdImpacts Politics says is already the fifth-most expensive House primary race in U.S. history.

The most expensive House primary took place earlier this year, when AIPAC's super PAC, United Democracy Project (UDP), spent $14.5 million on Westchester County, New York Executive George Latimer's successful bid to unseat Congressman Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.).

Like Bowman, Bush has been a vocal critic of Israel's war on Gaza, which has killed or wounded more than 140,000 Palestinians and is the subject of an International Court of Justice genocide case. Bush co-led a House cease-fire resolution introduced less than two weeks after Israel began bombarding Gaza. She has accused Israel of genocide.

Bell, meanwhile, has vowed to "fight to make sure the United States remains Israel's strongest ally."

UDP has spent heavily against candidates critical of Israel, and Bell is now the top recipient of AIPAC money this election cycle. St. Louis NBC affiliate KSDK reported Monday that UDP and other pro-Israel PACs have spent $7.6 million boosting Bell.

Bell launched his primary bid in October after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel that left more than 1,100 Israelis and others dead and around 240 people kidnapped. At the time, he was already running for Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley's seat. His House bid came despite a promise to Bush that he would not run against her. On Tuesday, Drop Site's Ryan Grim published an audio recording of Bell's promise.

According to Drop Site, AIPAC recruited Bell from a list of Black politicians with a chance of unseating Bush. AIPAC called this assertion "false and absurd."

Bell portrays himself as a progressive. However, he formerly managed the 2006 House campaign of Republican Mark Byrne, an anti-abortion and gun control candidate. More recently, he reneged on a promise to the family of Michael Brown—the 18-year-old who was fatally shot by Ferguson, Missouri police officer Darren Wilson—to pursue justice in the case by declining to criminally charge Wilson. Bell has also overseen a steady increase in the St. Louis County Jail's population at a time when the overall U.S. prison and jail population declined.

Bell's campaign is funded by Republicans including billionaire hedge fund founder and prolific GOP donor Daniel Loeb, billionaire tech CEO David Steward, and former Missouri House Speaker Steven Tilley. An analysis published last month by Politico revealed that 46% of donors who have given to Democratic candidates via AIPAC this election cycle have also funded Republicans since the 2020 cycle.

Such support doesn't always buy results, as Congresswoman Summer Lee (D-Pa.) showed when she defeated her Democratic primary opponent Bhavini Patel, who took money from Republican megadonors including billionaire businessman Jeffrey Yass. UDP spent $5 million trying—and failing—to unseat Lee, who crushed Patel by over 20 percentage points in the April primary.

AIPAC's largesse has sparked a #RejectAIPAC campaign urging Democrats to refuse to take money from the group.