Another one bites the dust, as rock and roll band Queen sings.
On Tuesday, Missouri Representative Cori Bush became the second member of the so-called “Squad” in the House to suffer a defeat in a primary, following Representative Jamaal Bowman’s defeat in New York last month.
This means that the progressive group will be down at least two members when the new Congress is seated.
Bush, who has served in the House for two terms, lost out in her bid for re-election in the 1st District of Missouri. She was taken down by Wesley Bell, a prosecuting attorney in St. Louis, who is considered a much more moderate candidate.
A major pro-Israel group backed Bell’s candidacy, and helped him take down Bush before she even had a chance to vie for re-election against a Republican in the November general election.
AdImpact, an independent group, reported that the Democratic primary race for Bush’s seat was the second most-expensive one in this election cycle — behind only the contest for Bowman’s seat in the Bronx.
And in both of those contests, the ultra-progressive incumbents were taken down by more moderate upstart challengers.
For much of the campaign, Bell painted Bush as being completely out of touch with the constituents in her district. He also highlighted the multiple investigations that are currently underway into the finances of her campaign.
The calling card of the entire campaign, though, came down to how critical Bush has been of the Israeli government over the last year.
Bush was actually the first Congress member to call for a ceasefire deal between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas — and that came only nine days after Hamas brutally attacked Israel last October, leaving more than 1,200 dead and taking hundreds more hostages.
She continued to remain very critical of how Israel has handled its response in trying to eradicate Hamas in Gaza, accusing some officials in Israel of committing genocide in the process.
That’s a major reason why a super PAC called the United Democracy Project — which is aligned with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee — boosted the efforts of Bell to oust Bush by spending $8 million on an ad blitz.
That total paled in comparison to the roughly $2 million that the PAC Justice Democrats spent to support Bush. That group has consistently opposed sending aid to Israel.
AIPAC has been very active in this primary cycle, spending money to support a wide variety of candidates across the country who are challenging some of the most outspoken Democratic critics of how Israel has handled the war with Gaza.
While two Squad members lost in the primary, two others were able to narrowly survive — Representatives Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Summer Lee of Pennsylvania.
Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota has a tough primary election ahead of her still, as she’s facing off against Don Samuels, a former city council member in Minneapolis. That primary election is set to take place next week.
