Rep. Wesley Bell has defeated former Rep. Cori Bush in Missouri's Democratic primary, NBC News projects, winning a closely watched rematch that once again put outside spending and Democratic divisions over Israel and Gaza in the national spotlight.
Bell defeated Bush in Missouri's heavily Democratic 1st Congressional District after campaigning on local issues, public safety and his support for Israel. Bush, meanwhile, argued Bell's campaign was fueled by outside money and sought to make the race a referendum on his backing from pro-Israel groups.
Among Bell's biggest outside supporters were the AIPAC-linked United Democracy Project and New Democrat Majority. According to the Missouri Independent, Bell's campaign raised about $3.3 million through the end of June, compared with roughly $816,000 for Bush, while outside groups supporting Bell spent nearly $2.5 million on his behalf before the primary.
After casting his ballot, Bell said voters wanted a representative focused on issues affecting Missouri.
"While we take those issues seriously, the M in Missouri doesn't stand for Middle East," Bell told NBC News. "It stands for Missouri."
Bush pushed back on that argument, criticizing the influence of outside spending in the race.
"Why are they meddling in our primaries?" she said of outside groups supporting Bell. "Why does he allow that?"
During the Biden administration, Bush became one of Congress' most outspoken critics of U.S. support for Israel's military campaign in Gaza, which she described as a genocide. Throughout the campaign, she argued Bell's ties to AIPAC and other outside groups raised questions about whose interests he would represent in Congress.
Despite the loss, Bush said she does not view the outcome as a rejection of the progressive movement.
"If there is a loss, then that just means that there is more work for us to do," she said.
Bell's victory came the same day Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan's Democratic Senate primary after running a campaign that opposed unconditional U.S. military aid to Israel and overcoming tens of millions of dollars in outside spending, much of it from pro-Israel groups. The contrasting results underscored that Democratic voters in two closely watched races reached different conclusions about the role of outside spending, Israel and progressive politics.
Bell is now expected to advance to the general election in the heavily Democratic St. Louis-area district.
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