On the night of August 6, progressive Congresswoman Cori Bush lost the Democratic Party primary in her Missouri district, in a race heavily funded by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Bush, alongside the only Palestinian woman in Congress, Rashida Tlaib, had spearheaded a resolution within Congress to call for a ceasefire. Bush, who was first elected in 2020, lost the primary to Wesley Bell, a county prosecutor and favorite of the Israel lobby.
Overall, Bell’s backers outspent Bush’s 4 to 1, with AIPAC’s “United Democracy Project” spending USD 8.5 million on Bell.
Bush’s loss harkens back to the loss of fellow progressive Representative Jamaal Bowman, who also lost the primary in his district in New York to a more right-wing Democrat who was heavily funded by AIPAC. Like in Bowman’s case, the campaign against Bush has been accused of using racist stereotypes against the progressive lawmaker, using distorted photos of her that exaggerated her features in mailers sent out to voters.
Both Bowman and Bush’s losses represent not only significant blows to the more progressive wing of the Democratic Party, but also the great lengths which political establishment forces are willing to go to keep pro-Palestine and pro-peace voices out of Congress. Bowman was also under severe attack for his support for a ceasefire in Gaza and his relative outspokenness on the issue of Palestine. Due to AIPAC spending on Bowman’s opponent, established Westchester politician George Latimer, Bowman’s unsuccessful reelection bid became the most expensive race in the history of the US Congress.
Bush was defiant in response to her defeat, “All they did was radicalize me, so now they need to be afraid,” she said. “They about to see this other Cori, this other side… AIPAC, I’m coming to tear your kingdom down.”
