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'Taking On AIPAC Again,' Cori Bush Launches Campaign to Win Back House Seat
"I’m running again because St. Louis deserves leadership that doesn’t wait for permission, doesn’t answer to wealthy donors, and doesn’t hide when things get tough."
Oct 03, 2025
Former Democratic Congresswoman Cori Bush is running again in Missouri to reclaim the US House seat from which she was ousted last year amid a tsunami of campaign spending against her and other progressives by the Israel lobby.
"St. Louis deserves a leader who is built different. That’s why I’m running to represent Missouri’s 1st District in Congress," Bush announced Friday on social media. "We need a fighter who will lower costs, protect our communities, and make life fairer. I’ll be that fighter."
“I ran for Congress to change things for regular people,” Bush says in her first 2026 campaign ad. “I’m running again because St. Louis deserves leadership that doesn’t wait for permission, doesn’t answer to wealthy donors, and doesn’t hide when things get tough.”
Bush—a two-term member of the so-called "Squad" of progressive House lawmakers—was defeated in her district's August 2024 Democratic primary by current Rep. Wesley Bell (D-Mo.), a former county prosecutor.
Nearly two-thirds of Bell's campaign funding came from one source: The American Israel Public Affairs Committee's independent expenditures arm and conduit for dark money, the United Democracy Project, which allocated more than $100 million toward defeating candidates AIPAC deemed insufficiently supportive of Israel.
(Image by @TrackAIPAC/X)
UDP also spent heavily last year to defeat then-Congressman Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and to help thwart the Democratic congressional candidacy of Susheela Jayapal in Oregon and former Republican Congressman John Hostettler's comeback bid in Indiana.
AIPAC's largesse was stoked by Bush's steadfast advocacy for Palestine and staunch opposition to Israel's genocidal war on Gaza. It was Bush who, just over a week into Israel's genocidal retaliation for the Hamas-led October 7 attack, introduced the first House ceasefire resolution.
Bush was also one of the first lawmakers to call Israel's annihilation and starvation of Gaza a genocide—as countless observers have since done, including numerous members of Congress, national governments and leaders, jurists, Holocaust scholars, and United Nations experts.
However, it was championing the needs and values of her overwhelmingly working-class community that propelled Bush—who rose to prominence during the Ferguson, Missouri protests against the police killing of unarmed Black man Michael Brown—to her 2020 Democratic primary victory over an opponent whose family had held the 1st Congressional District seat for half a century.
For example, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Bush led a five-day sit-in outside Congress, where she slept rough with other Squad members and persuaded the Biden administration to extend a temporary eviction moratorium. She also secured hundreds of millions of dollars in economic recovery funds via the American Rescue Plan signed by former President Joe Biden in 2021.
While Bell dismissed Bush's comeback bid by contending that "the headlines and controversies of the past aren’t what we need," progressives cheered her reentry into the political arena.
The political action group Our Revolution quickly endorsed Bush, as it had previously done.
BIG NEWS: Cori Bush could officially announced her run for Congress 👀🔥The nurse. The activist. The Congresswoman who camped on the Capitol steps to stop evictions. The one who never backed down. 👇 🧵
[image or embed]
— Our Revolution (@our-revolution.bsky.social) October 3, 2025 at 7:51 AM
"Cori Bush embodies the values of our movement—she is a nurse, a pastor, and an activist who rose up from Ferguson to fight for working families in Congress,” Our Revolution executive director Joseph Geevarghese said in a statement. “She has been a fearless advocate for Medicare for All, student debt cancellation, housing rights, climate justice, and an end to US military support of Israel."
"That’s why oligarchs and dark money super PACs spent millions to buy this seat and silence her voice," he added. "But they cannot silence the people she represents, and Our Revolution is proud to stand with her as she takes back the people’s seat in Missouri’s 1st.”
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GOP Killing Spree Continues as Missouri Executes Marcellus Williams
"We must abolish this flawed, racist, inhumane practice once and for all," Congresswoman Cori Bush said of the death penalty.
Sep 24, 2024
Update: The state of Missouri executed Marcellus Williams by lethal injection Monday evening over the objections of his prosecutor and the murder victim's relatives, The Associated Press reported.
Earlier:
Advocates for a man set to be executed by the state of Missouri on Tuesday lodged desperate pleas for Republican Gov. Mike Parson to change course and grant an eleventh-hour reprieve in a case with such serious red flags that even the office that prosecuted the defendant wants his conviction overturned.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay for Williams, one day after both Parson and the Missouri Supreme Court said they would not halt Williams' killing by lethal injection—a method associated with botched executions—barring a last-minute change of heart by the governor.
"We wish we had better news. But as of now, Marcellus Williams is still scheduled to be executed by Missouri tonight at 6:00 pm Central for a crime he is totally innocent of," the Innocence Project—which works to exonerate wrongfully convicted people—said in a social media post.
Williams, who is Black, was convicted in 2001 of murdering Felicia Gayle, a white woman, during a 1998 robbery. DNA found on the knife used to kill Gayle matched another man. However, Williams was convicted by a nearly all-white jury after St. Louis County prosecutors were permitted to preemptively strike half a dozen Black prospective jurors from service.
Earlier this year, St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell, a Democrat running for Congress, asked to vacate Williams' conviction, citing "clear and convincing evidence" of his innocence including evidence contamination and the revelation that at least one potential juror was excluded because he was Black.
However, the Missouri Supreme Court unanimously ruled against stopping the execution, asserting that Williams' lawyers "failed to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence Williams' actual innocence or constitutional error at the original criminal trial that undermines the confidence in the judgment of the original criminal trial."
Following the ruling, Parson said that Williams "has exhausted due process and every judicial avenue, including over 15 hearings attempting to argue his innocence and overturn his conviction."
Congresswoman Cori Bush (D-Mo.)—a death penalty opponent who was recently defeated by Bell in their district's Democratic House primary—joined civil and human rights defenders in appealing to Parson to reconsider.
"A system that rules that an innocent man can be executed by the hands of the state is anything but just," Bush said on social media. "Gov. Parson must reverse his disgraceful decision not to stop this inhumane execution and act now to save Marcellus Williams' life."
As NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund president and director-counsel Janai Nelson noted:
There is a groundswell of voices calling for either commutation or a temporary reprieve. As you know, these voices include the family of Felicia Gayle... Gayle's family had communicated their "desire that the death penalty not be carried out in this case." Mr. Williams has presented compelling evidence that he is innocent of Ms. Gayle's murder. The perpetrator of this horrific crime left behind significant forensic evidence, including fingerprints, footprints, hair, and trace DNA on the murder weapon. None of this evidence matches Mr. Williams. The St. Louis County prosecuting attorney has recognized that Mr. Williams' capital trial was marred by constitutional errors and the prosecution's presentation of unreliable evidence, which undermine confidence in the judgment against him.
"I implore you to use your gubernatorial authority to grant Mr. Williams clemency, or, at a minimum, grant a reprieve until the underlying conviction can be investigated further and applicable law can be determined," Nelson said.
As Amherst College law professor Austin Sarat noted in Slate Monday, the United States is currently "witnessing the worst execution spree in three decades."
Republican-led states are set to carry out four state-sanctioned killings in addition to last week's lethal injection of Freddie Owens in South Carolina, despite the key prosecution witness' bombshell claim that the convicted man did not commit the murder for which he was put to death.
"This week's execution spree should unsettle all Americans, whether or not they support the death penalty," Sarat wrote. "It will offer further reasons for why capital punishment should be abolished everywhere in this country."
As the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) notes on its website, capital punishment "carries the inherent risk of executing an innocent person."
"Since 1973, at least 200 people who had been wrongly convicted and sentenced to death in the U.S. have been exonerated," the group says, adding that it is "clear that innocent defendants will be convicted and sentenced to death with some regularity as long as the death penalty exists."
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Cori Bush Loses Reelection Bid to Democrat Backed by AIPAC
"Tonight's results should be a warning sign to anyone who cares about our democracy," said one advocacy group.
Aug 07, 2024
Rep. Cori Bush lost her reelection bid in Missouri's 1st Congressional District on Tuesday to a Democratic primary candidate backed by a massive influx of spending from AIPAC, which targeted the progressive incumbent over her early calls for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.
Wesley Bell, the prosecuting attorney for St. Louis County, enjoyed a huge cash advantage over Bush, with nearly two-thirds of his campaign money coming from fundraising efforts by AIPAC's super PAC, the United Democracy Project (UDP).
UDP, which has been bankrolled by ultra-wealthy Republicans, spent around $8.5 million to oust Bush, the second Squad member to lose to an AIPAC-backed primary opponent this election cycle. AIPAC pledged earlier this year to spend $100 million attacking progressive candidates, and the organization has thus far been the largest source of Republican money flowing into competitive Democratic primaries this year.
The Intercept's Akela Lacy reported that in Tuesday's race, AIPAC's money was spent "on voter engagement efforts and phone banking in addition to digital and mail ads."
"One of the mailers, first reported by The Intercept, included images that distorted Bush's features," Lacy added.
Bell, who also raised money directly from Republican billionaires and previously served as campaign manager for a GOP candidate, narrowly defeated Bush, winning 51.2% of the vote compared to the incumbent's 45.6%—a margin of fewer than 7,000 votes.
In a fiery speech to supporters following her defeat, Bush said that by "pulling me away from my position as congresswoman, all you did was take some of the strings off."
Bush, who was elected to the House in 2020, went on to directly address AIPAC's role in what became one of the most expensive congressional primaries in U.S. history.
"AIPAC, I'm coming to tear your kingdom down," said Bush. "And let me put all of these corporations on notice: I'm coming after you too. But I'm not coming by myself. I'm coming with all the people that's in here, that's doing the work."
Cori Bush defiant in defeat: "All they did was radicalize me, so now they need to be afraid."
"They about to see this other Cori, this other side," she said. "AIPAC, I'm coming to tear your kingdom down." pic.twitter.com/690T0aEhmZ
— Mark Maxwell (@MarkMaxwellTV) August 7, 2024
Justice Democrats, a progressive organization that helped propel Bush to victory in 2020 and backed her reelection bid, said following Tuesday's contest that "no matter what a singular super PAC can spend to try and buy an election, nothing can take away from the transformational effect Cori Bush has directly had on the people of St. Louis."
"That power—of everyday people to transform what we can expect from our political system—is such a threat to right-wing power, corporate interests, and AIPAC's influence, that a coalition of GOP-funded Super PACs had to spend over $12 million to even have a chance at defeating it," the group said in a statement posted to social media. "As AIPAC's influence in Congress wanes and the right-wing network propping it up is exposed, AIPAC has to spend historic amounts to continue advancing their interests at the expense of the Democratic mainstream that overwhelmingly supports a ceasefire and an end to genocide in Gaza."
Bush was one of the original sponsors of a congressional resolution calling for an end to Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip, which has dragged on for 10 months and left nearly 40,000 Palestinians dead, according to official tallies that are likely a vast undercount given the number of people missing under ruins and in mass graves.
"We can't bomb our way to peace, equality, and freedom," Bush said as she introduced the resolution alongside her progressive House colleagues on October 16. "With thousands of lives lost and millions more at stake, we need a cease-fire now."
"Cori Bush had the moral courage to speak out against her constituents' taxpayer dollars funding war crimes in Gaza."
Aru Shiney-Ajay, executive director of the Sunrise Movement, said Tuesday that "without the deluge of misleading advertisements" attacking Bush, she "would be headed to Congress for another term next year."
"Tonight's results should be a warning sign to anyone who cares about our democracy," said Shiney-Ajay. "If Democratic Party leaders don't stand against AIPAC and right-wing billionaires, they undermine our democracy and risk disillusioning the young voters and voters of color we need to defeat the far-right."
Our Revolution executive director Joseph Geevarghese echoed that message, saying in a statement that "tonight's outcome puts the blatantly undemocratic nature of Democratic Party primaries on full display."
"Cori Bush had the moral courage to speak out against her constituents' taxpayer dollars funding war crimes in Gaza. As a result, AIPAC and its MAGA Republican-funded super PAC spent more than $8.4 million to buy her congressional seat," said Geevarghese.
"Democratic Party elites have spent years decrying Trump as an existential threat to democracy," he added, "yet they are resoundingly silent when wealthy conservative donors unseat a true working-class champion who was among the first federal lawmakers to endorse Kamala Harris in her historic candidacy for president."
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Nearly Two-Thirds of All Campaign Funds for Cori Bush Challenger Came From AIPAC
"Wesley Bell is now the No. 1 recipient of AIPAC cash this cycle—receiving $3 million and counting," Justice Democrats noted.
Jul 30, 2024
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.
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'Scathing' Report Exposes Broken Promises of Cori Bush's Primary Challenger
"Wesley Bell promised long overdue reforms in St. Louis County, but—like his predecessor, Bob McCulloch—he's continued to punish primarily poor and working people," said the Working Families Party national director.
Jul 17, 2024
A local coalition on Wednesday released a report blasting the record of St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell, who is challenging progressive Congresswoman Cori Bush in the Democratic primary for Missouri's 1st District.
The report about Bell's five years in his current office was published by the Prosecutor Organizing Table, which includes Action St. Louis, ArchCity Defenders, Freedom Community Center, Forward through Ferguson, MacArthur Justice Center, and Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty.
"Early on, Bell cast himself as a progressive looking to make fundamental changes to the way that the St. Louis County prosecutor's office operated," the report explains. "He promised changes to address some of the key issues that plague the criminal legal system, including overcharging, lack of transparency, reliance on cash bail, and criminalization of poverty, drug use, and mental health illness."
When Bell took office in 2019, "many residents hoped to see a leader that would fight to dramatically reduce mass human caging on behalf of Black communities and others disproportionately impacted in St. Louis County," the document notes. "We have seen the office fail to implement meaningful change on a number of important fronts."
The analysis began in August 2022 and includes data the coalition collected from Bell's office, "freedom of information requests, independent research, as well as lived experience from people impacted by the carceral system." The report features a timeline of their communication with his office and points out that "some of the issues and questions raised by the table went unanswered."
The Missouri coalition—whose members lead local decarceration and racial justice efforts—evaluated Bell based on five metrics: transparency, charging decisions, pretrial detention, convictions and sentencing, and commitment to community-based alternatives.
"After early progress, the St. Louis County jail population has steadily climbed under Bell's leadership. It has increased 23% in the past year and 46% in the past two years," the report highlights. "Meanwhile, the nation's overall jail and prison population has fallen by over 10%."
"While failing to reduce the jail population long-term, Bell's office has succeeded in securing a $1.8 million budget expansion and a $700,000 [American Rescue Plan Act] grant to hire new attorneys and build out satellite offices with the police," the publication continues. "This risks inflating the office’s budget for years to come, creating even more power to put our neighbors behind bars."
In addition to calling out Bell's prosecutorial record, the groups offered "recommendations for shifting policies and practices towards a survivor-centered approach to restorative justice to decarcerate and address violence at its core."
Bell "discounted the report as politics," according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "Many of the organizations backing the report, he said, have endorsed Bush. And he said she won't debate the issues publicly."
The prosecutor told the newspaper, "My opponent refusing to answer questions and hiding behind this group is disingenuous and does a grave disservice to this community."
Meanwhile, ArchCity spokesperson Z Gorley pointed out that the analysis began long before Bell announced he was running for Congress and Bush's campaign accused Bell of using the congresswoman as a scapegoat "to evade responsibility."
The Working Families Party (WFP)—which has endorsed Bush—called the report "scathing."
"Wesley Bell promised long overdue reforms in St. Louis County, but—like his predecessor, Bob McCulloch—he's continued to punish primarily poor and working people," said WFP national director Maurice Mitchell. "St. Louisans deserve better from their prosecuting attorney."
The race between Bell and Bush has garnered national attention in large part because Republican billionaires and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) have backed the prosecutor for the August 6 primary in hopes of ousting the congresswoman for criticizing the U.S.-backed Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip and her supportiveness of a range of progressive issues.
AIPAC's other top progressive target this cycle was Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), who was defeated by his pro-Israel primary challenger, Westchester County Executive George Latimer, last month. Just days later, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) released a joint statement endorsing Bush.
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Fresh Calls to 'Reject AIPAC' After Analysis of GOP Money in Dem Primaries
"George Latimer in New York and Wesley Bell in Missouri are trying to become Democratic members of Congress off millions of dollars of money from rich right-wing Republicans," said one group.
Jun 09, 2024
Politico reported Sunday that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee "the biggest source of Republican money flowing into competitive Democratic primaries this year," sparking new calls for candidates and voters nationwide to #RejectAIPAC.
"If you don't want Republican megadonors to choose your next Democratic congressperson for you, then there's only one option: #RejectAIPAC," Naftali Ehrenkranz, digital director at Get Free, said on social media, pointing to the reporting.
Also noting the "bombshell" report, Yonah Lieberman, co-founder of the Jewish American organization IfNotNow, said that "AIPAC is a GOP front group. Democrats who accept their money or endorsement should be shamed out of the party."
Institute on Race, Power, and Political Economy senior fellow Nina Turner, a former Democratic congressional candidate, declared, "AIPAC is a right-wing group that buys deep blue seats."
Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, drew a comparison to the National Rifle Association, saying, "Imagine how mainstream Democrats would react if the NRA was the single biggest source of Republicans donating into Democratic primaries."
Support for or criticism of the Israeli government has become a defining issue in this election cycle over the past eight months, as Israel has waged a war on the Gaza Strip that has led to a genocide case at the International Court of Justice. AIPAC, which supports pro-Israel Democratic and Republican candidates, has targeted progressives who oppose the military assault.
"We are proud to engage in the democratic process in a bipartisan way to help elect candidates who support the U.S.-Israel relationship," AIPAC spokesperson Marshall Wittmann said in a statement. "Candidates from both parties should welcome the engagement of pro-Israel activists because Americans overwhelmingly stand with the Jewish state. In fact, those who object to our participation only represent a small, extremist fringe."
Gallup polling released in March shows that 55% of Americans disapprove of Israeli military actions in Gaza—which as of Sunday, have killed over 37,000 people, according to local officials. A Pew Research Center survey published last week found that 53% of U.S. adults have little to no confidence that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will "do the right thing regarding world affairs."
Politico put out the findings from its analysis—which is based on a review of Federal Election Commission filings from AIPAC, the ActBlue and WinRed donation platforms, and individual campaigns—a day after thousands of American critics of Israel's war and U.S. complicity in it descended on the White House while Israeli forces slaughtered hundreds more Palestinians.
According to the outlet:
Only about 2% of this cycle's donors to Democratic candidates or through the Democratic giving platform ActBlue have also given to Republicans over the past few cycles, Politico's analysis found. But 46% of donors who have given to Democratic candidates via AIPAC this cycle have given to Republicans since the 2020 cycle.
For Republican donors, giving to Democratic candidates in primaries helps ensure more moderate, pro-Israel candidates win in deep-blue seats where the general election is all but certain to be uncompetitive, and financial support for GOP candidates would be a waste.
The top recipient of AIPAC money—at least $1.61 million—is Westchester County Executive George Latimer, who launched his challenge to Democratic Congressman Jamaal Bowman in New York's 16th Congressional District after visiting Israel.
Responding to the report on social media Sunday, Bowman—who has called Israel's assault on Gaza genocide—said that "Republicans are setting records spending against us. And we're going to break records beating them."
Politico pointed out that "competitive Democratic primaries are also the biggest targets for AIPAC's affiliated super PAC, United Democracy Project, which has already spent $19.8 million in them this year, including $9.3 million in the Bowman-Latimer race. That makes it by far the biggest outside group in Democratic primaries, with more money flowing from UDP than the next 10 biggest spenders combined. (The super PAC has also spent in a handful of GOP primaries, dropping $3 million total.)"
The New York arm of the Working Families Party, which is backing Bowman in the June 25 primary, shared Politico's graph of top AIPAC beneficiaries and stressed that "we must be united in rejecting AIPAC's efforts to subvert our democracy."
After Bowman and two incumbents is St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell, at $869,300. He is trying to oust another progressive "Squad" member, Democratic Congresswoman Cori Bush, in the August 6 primary for Missouri's 1st District.
"My opponent Wesley Bell is among AIPAC's TOP 4 recipients this cycle—and is gladly taking money from anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-labor, pro-NRA Republicans who expect his loyalty in return above all else," Bush said on social media. "We deserve better. #StLouisIsNotForSale."
Fellow "Squad" member Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) also weighed in, saying, "Hmm it's almost like AIPAC functions as a political slush fund for Republican billionaires and should not have influence in the Democratic Party, let alone our primaries."
People for Bernie—which was initially launched in support of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) 2016 Democratic presidential campaign—said, "Simply put: George Latimer in New York and Wesley Bell in Missouri are trying to become Democratic members of Congress off millions of dollars of money from rich right-wing Republicans."
Justice Democrats, which worked to elect Bowman, Bush, and Ocasio-Cortez, asserted that reelecting the New York and Missouri progressives "is a vote to #RejectAIPAC and Republican donors spending in our elections."
The group also noted Republican President Donald Trump, who is expected to face Democratic President Joe Biden in November. Justice Democrats said, "Now that it's undeniable that AIPAC is *the* vehicle for Republican billionaires to spend in Democratic primaries, you have to ask what type of candidates would be willing to be bought and paid for by Trump donors?"
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'It's Officially Begun': AIPAC's Dark Money Super PAC Targets Cori Bush
"Organized people beats organized money, and our community is ready to show that St. Louis is not for sale," said the Missouri Democrat.
May 28, 2024
A pro-Israel lobby group's super political action committee trying to unseat progressive members of Congress who condemn the Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip is this week pouring over a quarter-million dollars into advertising against Rep. Cori Bush.
Jacob Rubashkin of Inside Elections highlighted on social media Tuesday that the United Democracy Project (UDP) is spending at least $216,310 on broadcast and $16,193 on radio.
Politico reported that "data tracked by AdImpact show approximately $320,000 in ad reservations for cable, radio, satellite, and other formats" from the super PAC affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) through next week.
While the Missouri Democrat has three primary challengers as she campaigns for a third term in the 1st Congressional District, her top opponent in the August 6 primary is St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell, who is backed by AIPAC and Republican billionaires.
"UDP, AIPAC, and their extensive network of far-right billionaires, anti-abortion extremists, and GOP megadonors have been promising to spend millions in their effort to defeat me ever since they first bribed my opponent to enter this race," Bush said in a statement to Politico. "Unfortunately for them, organized people beats organized money, and our community is ready to show that St. Louis is not for sale."
Bush delivered a similar message on social media, responding to Rubashkin's post.
Supporters of Bush also took to social media to denounce UDP's spending effort in Missouri.
"AIPAC, the Republican-bankrolled group that is investing $100 million in unseating progressives in their own primaries, is turning its focus to Cori Bush," said the Working Families Party (WFP). "Why? Because she uses her power to fight for the needs of the people—not Republican billionaires."
"We don't have the hundreds of millions AIPAC does, but we do have the people," added WFP, which has endorsed the "Squad" member. "And we know the power of the people is greater than the people in power."
Jewish Voice for Peace Action declared: "Back off, AIPAC. The people are not going to let you come for Cori Bush. Cori is fighting for justice and freedom for all of us—from St. Louis to Gaza. We won't allow far-right GOP megadonors to pit our communities against one another."
Justice Democrats also took aim at AIPAC and its affiliate, warning that "their GOP billionaires will spend millions against a former nurse and Missouri's greatest abortion rights champion—all to try and buy a seat in Congress at the expense of everyday people in St. Louis."
"If you support a champion for cease-fire, abortion rights, and our democracy against pro-genocide, pro-insurrection, anti-abortion GOP megadonors, support Cori Bush's campaign," said the progressive PAC, which also sent a fundraising email for Bush that points to the new UDP ad buys.
Another top target of UDP this cycle is Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), who will face AIPAC-endorsed Westchester County Executive George Latimer in their state's 16th Congressional District on June 25.
After UDP booked $1.9 million in television ads earlier this month, Bowman said that "this new ad spending in New York shows once and for all that my opponent, George Latimer, is bankrolled by a right-wing super PAC that has received over $40 million from Republican megadonors who want to defend Republican insurrectionists, overturn voting rights, and ban abortion nationwide."
Bowman said on social media Tuesday that "AIPAC has already spent $6 million against us!"
Noting Bowman's new video, Westchester-Putnam WFP said that "AIPAC doesn't care about our community needs. They want to defeat any congressperson that criticizes Israel. Meanwhile Israel and Hamas violate international war by killing innocent civilians."
Israel's military on Tuesday killed at least 21 Palestinians at a refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip—just two days after an Israeli airstrike and resulting fire in a Rafah "safe zone" killed 45 people and wounded hundreds more.
The new deaths and injuries in Gaza—on top of more than 36,000 Palestinians killed and 81,000 wounded since October—sparked fresh calls from progressive U.S. lawmakers for Congress and Democratic President Joe Biden to finally cut off weapons and diplomatic support to Israel.
"How many children have to die? We're past the red line," Bowman said Tuesday, referencing Biden's previous remarks. "It's time to stop sending military aid to Israel. Not one more dime. We need a permanent cease-fire now, a path to peace, and Palestinian self-determination. That is how we protect the lives of Israelis and Palestinians."
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AIPAC-Backed Primary Challenger Leads Cori Bush by 22 Points: Poll
"I'm being targeted... because not only do I believe Palestinians deserve to live freely and peacefully just like Israelis, but because I want to protect our democracy from Republican extremism," Bush said.
Feb 13, 2024
Squad member and Democratic Missouri Rep. Cori Bush is 22 points behind her challenger Wesley Bell, a St. Louis County prosecutor endorsed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a poll published on Monday reveals.
Fifty percent of likely primary voters surveyed said they would back Bell, while 28% support Bush, The Hill reported. A further 4% said they would vote for state Sen. Maria Chapelle-Nadal, while 18% remain undecided. The news comes amid increased coverage of AIPAC's plan to oust members of the Squad through its United Democracy Project (UDP) super PAC, whose top 10 donors include several right-wing billionaires who give frequently to Republican campaigns.
"I'm being targeted by AIPAC because not only do I believe Palestinians deserve to live freely and peacefully just like Israelis, but because I want to protect our democracy from Republican extremism," Bush told The New York Times on Monday. "I want to codify abortion rights, I want to pass meaningful gun violence prevention legislation, and I want to raise taxes on billionaires—all things AIPAC, their GOP donors, and the insurrectionists they endorse, oppose."
"Wesley Bell went from running against Josh Hawley, an actual right-wing insurrectionist, to taking thousands of dollars from the donors of Josh Hawley, Donald Trump, and almost the entire Missouri Republican delegation to run against Missouri's first Black congresswoman."
Bush has been an early and persistent voice calling for a cease-fire in Gaza, helping to introduce the "Cease-Fire Now Resolution" in mid-October.
"We can't be silent about Israel's ethnic cleansing campaign," she posted on social media on October 29.
Bell, in contrast, has thrown his support behind Israel and President Joe Biden's handling of the conflict. In interviews, he has announced his intention to "stand with the president" and "stand with our allies," according to Mother Jones. When asked at a Maryland Heights Township Democrats meeting in November if Israel should be held to account for excessive force as Bell has argued should be the case for U.S. police officers, he responded:
"It is offensive to me that you would say that Israel defending itself is genocide. Genocide is intentionally trying to wipe out a people. And no reasonable person would say that is Israel's intention."
In the same response, he said that Bush's statement that Israel was engaging in ethnic cleansing was "wrong" and "misguided," as the Riverfront Times reported.
Bell's strongly pro-Israel stance and endorsement from AIPAC has prompted progressive commenters to link his campaign to the broader effort to unseat the Squad.
"I don't think we can talk about a Wesley Bell without talking about a George Latimer challenging Jamaal Bowman [in New York]; or without talking about a Bhavini Patel, who's challenging Summer Lee in Pennsylvania; or Don Samuels and Sarah Gad, who are still auditioning for who will get the AIPAC endorsement" against Rep. Ilhan Omar in Minnesota, Usamah Andrabi of Justice Democrats told Mother Jones. "It is one big fight."
Bell's campaign has also raised questions because, in mid-October, he was running against Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) before switching to run against Bush at the end of the month.
"Wesley Bell went from running against Josh Hawley, an actual right-wing insurrectionist, to taking thousands of dollars from the donors of Josh Hawley, Donald Trump, and almost the entire Missouri Republican delegation to run against Missouri's first Black congresswoman," Andrabi told the Times.
Megan Green, the president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen who supports Bush, told Mother Jones that she thought it was "highly likely" that Bell was recruited by AIPAC to run against Bush.
However, it's unclear if Bell and Bush's divergent views on Israel's war on Gaza are influencing voters. In the poll, which surveyed 401 potential voters between February 7 and 9, 35% said they sympathized more with Israelis and 21% with Palestinians, but the largest share—44%—said they were "not sure" who they sympathized with more.
Both Bell and Bush have local strengths and vulnerabilities. Bell is the first Black prosecuting attorney in St. Louis County. He is part of the progressive prosecutors movement and was elected in the wake of widespread protests against the police killing of Michael Brown in 2014. In office, he has ended death penalty prosecutions in the county; kept 2,200 low-level, non-violent offenders out of prison, directing them toward alternatives like training or healthcare instead; and set up a unit to look into wrongful imprisonment, according to The New York Times.
However, he also campaigned on a promise to reopen the case into Darren Wilson, the police officer who shot Brown, and then decided in office that there was not enough evidence to prosecute, which angered some of the activists who had campaigned for him.
Bush, meanwhile, has faced criticism from unions who backed her during her first run because of her decision to vote against the bipartisan infrastructure bill. The Laborers' International Union of North America has switched its endorsement from Bush to Bell. The congresswoman is also under investigation for using government money for private security, an accusation she denies.
In addition to leading her in the polls, Bell is also leading Bush in fundraising. His campaign had raised $600,000 by the end of January while the Bush campaign had approximately $215,000 in cash on hand, Mother Jones reported.
GOP firm Remington Research Group commissioned Monday's poll for the Missouri Scout, according to The Hill; it had a 4.9 percentage-point margin of error.
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