Progressives Sweep Primaries; Cori Bush Loses St. Louis Rematch

Rep. Wesley Bell defeated former Rep. Cori Bush by 22 points in Missouri's 1st District Democratic primary, the sole setback for the party's progressive wing on a night that otherwise delivered a string of wins, NBC News reported.

In Michigan, former public health official Abdul El-Sayed defeated Rep. Haley Stevens in the state's closely watched Democratic Senate contest. Activist William Lawrence won the nomination in Michigan's battleground 7th District, and state Rep. Donavan McKinney unseated Rep. Shri Thanedar in the 13th District. In Kansas' Democratic gubernatorial primary, state Sen. Cindy Holscher beat state Sen. Ethan Corson, who had the backing of outgoing Gov. Laura Kelly.

Bush's loss was a rematch of her 2024 defeat to Bell. As Sahil Kapur and Brennan Leach reported from St. Louis, she campaigned on cutting off U.S. funding for Israel and taking a more combative approach to pull Democratic leaders left — a message that has powered other successful challenges to incumbents in solidly blue districts.

Two factors worked against her, according to NBC News. Democratic voters broadly described Bell as a workhorse more focused on local results than national attention. One voter who switched from Bush to Bell over the past two years said "politics is really complicated, and it's about the practice and art of compromise."

Bell also held an overwhelming financial advantage. He and his allies — including United Democracy Project, the super PAC aligned with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee — outspent Bush by a 27-to-1 margin, according to AdImpact.

"There was no secret sauce," Bell told NBC News when asked how he survived while other incumbents have fallen. "There was no shortcut or workaround. It was about getting things done for the people in the St. Louis region."

Elsewhere in the newsletter, Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., said he is dropping his re-election bid days after the House Ethics Committee recommended he be censured over sexual harassment allegations. Julian Beaudion, the Democratic Senate nominee in South Dakota, ended his campaign, clearing the way for independent Brian Bengs to challenge Republican Sen. Mike Rounds.