Rep. Wesley Bell on Tuesday beat former congresswoman Cori Bush in a heated Democratic primary in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, CBS News projects.
The race was the latest display of intraparty rifts between establishment Democrats and democratic socialists over the future of the party and the U.S. alliance with Israel. Given the district’s heavily Democratic leaning, Bell is favored to win in November.
Bell, a moderate Democrat who is supportive of the U.S. relationship with Israel, has represented the solid-blue district, which includes St. Louis, since 2025 after unseating the two-term Bush, who rose to prominence as a Black Lives Matter activist and blamed her 2024 defeat on the pro-Israel lobby, which spent millions against her.
The two clashed in a fiery debate on July 24 over their support for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, U.S. military aid for Israel and campaign spending.
On Israel, Bell voted earlier this month against eliminating $3.3 billion in assistance to Israel in a vote that split House Democrats. Bell was in the minority, with more Democrats voting in favor of ending aid.
“I am no fan of Bibi Netanyahu, but we’re still going to stand with our allies,” Bell said.
Bush said she supports cutting off military aid “while human rights violations are happening.”
“Now funding for other things that they may need, I have no problem with that,” she added.
While Bush said she believes Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, Bell did not directly answer the question.
Bell accused Bush of calling Harris a fascist in comments she made two years ago in an interview with Al Jazeera, in which she said: “What I’m hearing is people say: ‘Well, we’re talking about fighting fascism. We don’t need the fascism that comes along with a Donald Trump presidency.’ But I feel like I’m seeing fascism right now, with a Joe Biden presidency and a Vice President Harris presidency.”
“You called her a fascist at a time when this election came down to a few thousand votes in five or six states, and everyone understood the assignment except you,” Bell said.
Bush responded, “Did I call them fascists? No. There was a rise in fascism, starting with the Trump administration. And then how we were able to send so much money to go and bomb people in another country, and it was so much of that was funded by a lot of the people that fund Congressman Wesley Bell through these PACs.”
Bush accused Bell of “revisionist history” while Bell argued Bush was twisting “herself into a pretzel to try to explain some things.”
The bitterness between the two escalated as Bell alleged Bush has a penchant for “exploiting tragedies,” referring to federal charges her husband faced related to pandemic-era relief.
“That is actual defamation,” Bush interjected. “I will not allow you to say something that is actually untrue.”
Bell also emphasized how Bush paid herself a salary and her husband, who provided her security, with campaign donations, which is legal under certain rules.
“What Cori has done is she’s raised money and then routed it into her own bank account for our own use,” he said.
“I don’t talk about your personal stuff, even though I know it. I’m going to keep my holiness and not talk about your personal stuff,” Bush responded. “Just because you say something, like Donald Trump, it doesn’t mean it’s true.”
