U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell secured victory Tuesday over former Rep. Cori Bush in Missouri’s Democratic primary for the 1st Congressional District, prevailing in the state’s most expensive primary race of the year. Bell’s win sets him up for a strong position heading into November in the heavily Democratic district.

The Associated Press projected Bell as the winner shortly after 8 p.m.

Bell will now advance to the general election, where he is expected to face the winner of the Republican contest between Paul Berry III and Andrew Jones—neither of whom has established a fundraising committee—as well as Libertarian candidate Tom Schmitz.

Both Bell and Bush rose to political prominence in the aftermath of the 2014 Ferguson protests, which became a defining moment in the national conversation on race and policing. In recent years, however, the two have found themselves on opposite sides of one of the nation’s most contentious issues: Bell has been a strong supporter of Israel, while Bush has become one of Congress’ most outspoken advocates for the Palestinian cause.

Bell’s pro-Israel positions attracted substantial financial backing from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and allied political action committees, allowing his re-election effort to far outspend Bush’s campaign.

Overall, candidates and outside organizations poured roughly $8.4 million into the race, making it Missouri’s costliest candidate primary this election cycle. Approximately $7.2 million of that total was spent in support of Bell.

Over the past two years, Bell’s campaign has spent nearly $3 million, including about $864,000 on television advertising leading up to Election Day. Bush’s campaign spent nearly $1.2 million overall, with only about $66,400 devoted to broadcast advertising.

AIPAC once again played a major financial role in Bell’s campaign, investing approximately $3.1 million on his behalf. That included roughly $1.5 million in television advertising through its affiliated political action committee, United Democracy Project. Another outside organization, New Democrat Majority, added approximately $1.1 million in support of Bell.

The latest spending follows AIPAC’s heavy investment in Bell during the 2024 election cycle, when the organization and allied groups spent more than $8 million backing his campaign as part of a broader effort to defeat some of Congress’ strongest critics of Israel, including members of the progressive “Squad,” of which Bush was a member.

Bell was one of AIPAC’s largest-supported candidates nationwide during the 2024 election cycle. The organization, founded in the 1950s, has drawn criticism from progressive Democrats and some Middle East scholars, who argue it consistently supports military escalation and prolonged Israeli control of disputed territories.

Bell rejected that characterization of the organization.

“What they focus on is a strong U.S.-Israeli relationship,” Bell told The Independent in June. “I’ll be honest, I’m not a fan of the current (Israeli) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, not a fan at all, but what I know about that group is that no matter who’s in charge, they’re going to support a strong US-Israeli relationship.”

Since arriving in Congress, Bell has been appointed to both the House Armed Services Committee, which oversees the Department of Defense, and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which handles issues involving U.S. foreign policy and national security.

Despite serving on committees with significant international responsibilities, Bell said his foremost priority remains the needs of his district.

“We have to focus on regional growth and development,” he said, “because I believe this region is a sleeping giant.”

{Matzav.com}