In August 2024, Bush lost the Democratic nomination for her seat to a primary challenger in a race described as having "received outsize attention", with politician Wesley Bell winning (45.6% vs. 51.1%).[5] Pro-Israel lobbying groups in the U.S. had spent large amounts to defeat Bush in the context of her positions on the Israel–Hamas war.[6][7]
Early life and education
Bush was born on July 21, 1976, in St. Louis and graduated from Cardinal Ritter College Prep High School in 1994.[8] Her father, Errol Bush, is an alderman in Northwoods, Missouri, and previously served as mayor.[9][10][11] In the summer of 1994, at 18 years old, Bush became pregnant after being raped and had an abortion.[12] A year later, she had a second abortion when she was 19 years old.[13]
Bush narrowly defeated Clay in the primary election in what was widely seen as an upset.[30] Bush received 48.5% of the vote, winning St. Louis City and narrowly losing suburban St. Louis County. Her primary victory was considered tantamount to election in the heavily Democratic district.[31] Her primary win ended the Clay family's 52-year hold on the district. Clay's father, Bill, won the seat in 1968 and was succeeded by his son in 2000.[32][33][34] The district and its predecessors have been in Democratic hands without interruption since 1911. No Republican has received more than 40% in the district since the late 1940s. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index of D+29, it is easily the most Democratic district in Missouri and tied for the 23rd-most Democratic district in the country.
As expected, Bush won the general election, defeating Republican Anthony Rogers with 78 percent of the vote.
In 2022, Bush ran for reelection to the seat. She was challenged by Steve Roberts, state senator, who received support from previous representative Lacy Clay. Bush won the Democratic primary with almost 70% of the vote.[35]
In 2024, Bush ran for reelection to the seat. On August 6, 2024, Bush lost the Democratic primary to Wesley Bell, the prosecuting attorney of St. Louis County.[5] The primary was the second most-expensive House primary in history, with $9 million in spending against Bush from United Democracy Project, AIPAC's super PAC.[36][37] The organization targeted Bush after her criticism of Israel during the Israel–Hamas war.[38][7] Bush was the second member of the Squad defeated in a Democratic primary in 2024 following George Latimer's defeat of Jamaal Bowman.[39]
Soon after being sworn in, Bush was associated with"The Squad", an informal left-wing grouping in the Democratic caucus.[40][41][42][43] She posted a photo on Twitter of herself, the four original Squad members, and another new member, Bowman, with the caption "Squad up."[44]
In August 2021, Bush took a leading role in fighting to extend the CARES Act's eviction moratorium, sleeping on the steps of the U.S. Capitol to make her point; the CDC extended the moratorium on August 3.[15][47][48][49]
On August 5, 2021, Bush defended spending tens of thousands of dollars on personal security for herself as a member of Congress while also saying Democrats should defund the police, saying, "I get to be here to do the work, so suck it up—and defunding the police has to happen. We need to defund the police."[50][51][52] On November 5, 2021, Bush was one of six House Democrats to break with their party and vote with a majority of Republicans against the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act because it was not accompanied by the Build Back Better Act.[53]
In 2022, Bush secured $750,000 in Community Project Funding for expansions to the Urban League facilities in North St. Louis, as well as funding for other area service organizations.[54]
As of July 2022, Bush had voted in line with Joe Biden's stated position 93.0% of the time.[55]
Following Bush's introduction of a ceasefire resolution in 2023, St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell announced his candidacy against her for the following election. Reports indicated that American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has marked her and other members of "the Squad" for "high dollar challengers."[57] Co-founder for LinkedIn, billionaire Reid Hoffman, has also expressed intentions to fund opponents of both Bush and Tlaib.[58]
On January 30, 2024, Bush confirmed reports that she was under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Election Commission for alleged misuse of federal security money.[59][60] Bush also claimed the Office of Congressional Ethics had previously investigated the same allegations and voted unanimously to dismiss the case after finding no evidence of wrongdoing.[60]
For the 2024 fiscal year, Bush secured over $13 million in federal earmarks to fund projects in the St. Louis area, including emergency food and shelter services and redevelopment for a housing complex. Total federal funds to Missouri were reduced from previous cycles as neither Missouri senator requested funds.[61]
Foreign and defense policy
In September 2021, Bush was one of eight Democrats to vote against the funding of Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system.[62]
Bush and congressional allies, including Senator Roy Blunt, successfully advocated for the Federal Transit Administration Climate Relief Fund. According to Bush, "that fund was going to have zero dollars in it" to repair damage to public transit systems from severe storms and flooding in 2017, 2020, 2021, and 2022. Bush threatened to withhold her vote for the budget if FTA funds were not included.[67]
Bush advocated defunding the United States Armed Forces during her campaign. After receiving criticism from California Representative Kevin McCarthy and a St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial, Bush clarified that she supported reallocating defense funding to healthcare and low-income communities.[76]
After supporters of then-president Donald Trump stormed the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, Bush introduced a resolution to investigate and expel members of the House who promoted the conspiracy theory that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump. On January 29, after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accepted her request, Bush changed offices from the Longworth House Office Building after Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene "berated" her and her staff in a hallway and refused to wear a mask. Greene accused Bush of calling for violence against a couple involved in the controversial July 2020 march through a gated St. Louis street.[77]
On July 18, 2023, she was one of nine progressive Democrats to vote against a congressionalnon-binding resolution proposed by August Pfluger, which states that "the State of Israel is not a racist or apartheid state", that Congress rejects "all forms of antisemitism and xenophobia" and that "the United States will always be a staunch partner and supporter of Israel."[78] Bush introduced the Ceasefire Now Resolution in Congress on October 16, 2023, with that measure calling for a ceasefire as well as increased humanitarian aid during the 2023 Israel-Hamas war.[79][80]
Healing claim
In a 2022 interview with the PBS news program The Firing Line with Margaret Hoover, Bush recounted a story from her biography about healing a homeless woman with tumors. She stated, "This lady came to us and she had these tumors. She wanted us to feel them" adding that as soon as she touched them, "The lumps that were there were no longer there and she was so happy and she went on about her day". When asked for her response to people who might not believe her story, Bush explained “they are not the woman that had the tumors".[81][82][83]
Personal life
Bush lives in St. Louis, Missouri. She has two children and has been married twice.[84] In 2001, Bush, her husband at the time, and young children lived in their Ford Explorer for about three months after being evicted from a rental home. At the time, Bush had lost income because illness during her second pregnancy made it necessary for her to quit her job at a preschool.[15][85] In February 2023, Bush married Cortney Merritts, a security specialist and U.S. Army veteran.[86]
In May 2021, Bush testified to the House Oversight and Reform Committee that during her first pregnancy, she informed her doctor of severe pain but was ignored, and as a result, went into pre-term labor. She attributed this to "harsh and racist treatment" that Black women face during pregnancy and childbirth.[87] In a subsequent tweet, she wrote, "Every day, Black birthing people and our babies die because our doctors don't believe our pain."[88][89]
Bibliography
The Forerunner: A Story of Pain and Perseverance in America (2022), Knopf First Edition 978-0593320587.
Electoral history
2016
2016 United States Senate election in Missouri Democratic primary[90]
^Kilkenny, Katie (June 26, 2019). "'Knock Down the House' Stars Endorse Bernie Sanders' Campaign". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 14, 2020. Retrieved August 9, 2020. Amy Vilela, Cori Bush and Paula Jean Swearingen have all thrown their support behind the openly socialist 2020 candidate, Bernie Sanders 2020 announced on Twitter on Saturday. "Thank you @CoriBush, @paulajean2020, and @amy4thepeople for endorsing our campaign! Together we can defeat Donald Trump and finally create a government that works for everyone in this country," the tweet read.
^Barkan, Ross (February 22, 2023). "'The Democratic Party in New York Is a Disaster'". The New York Times. ISSN0362-4331. Retrieved June 25, 2024. Jamaal Bowman, a Westchester County congressman and a member of the Squad, the prominent group of far-left members of Congress, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar.
^"Bowman slams AIPAC in final debate with Latimer". Punchbowl News. Retrieved June 25, 2024. Bowman is embracing underdog status in his competitive primary against Westchester County Executive George Latimer, who is seeking to be the first mainstream Democrat to knock off a member of the far-left Squad.
^Harb, Ali (August 5, 2020). "Cori Bush was attacked over BDS before election; she did not back down". Middle East Eye. Archived from the original on November 14, 2020. Retrieved August 9, 2020. "Cori Bush has always been sympathetic to the BDS movement, and she stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people just as they have stood in solidarity with Black Americans fighting for their own lives," her campaign said in a statement on Saturday.
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