Who is Wesley Bell? What to know about the Democrat that beat 'Squad' member Cori Bush

In one of the most closely watched House races of 2024, Wesley Bell defeated Cori Bush in the Democratic primary for Missouri’s 1st congressional district on Tuesday.

Bell unseated Bush, a second-term congresswoman and member of “the Squad,” a progressive group of lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives. Tuesday’s upset will pit Bell against Republican challenger Andrew Jones for the congressional seat.

Here’s what to know about Bell ahead of the 2024 general election on Nov. 5.

Bell was originally running for the U.S. Senate

Last year, Bell briefly launched a bid for Missouri’s 2024 U.S. Senate race, challenging Republican Senator Josh Hawley and highlighting their opposing views on police brutality and public safety.

But his campaign for the Senate was short-lived. He ran for just four months before dropping out to refocus his efforts against Bush for her House seat.

Though he was polling competitively, the Kansas City Star reported that he was having trouble keeping up financially. His Democratic opponent, Lucas Kunce, had $1.7 million cash on hand, while Bell’s campaign only had $88,011 when he exited the race. Kunce won Tuesday’s Democratic primary and will face off against Hawley in November.

Bush’s campaign manager, Devon Moody, expressed disappointment when Bell dropped his primary bid against Hawley, calling it “disheartening” that Bell “decided to abandon his U.S. Senate campaign to become Missouri’s first Black Senator after less than five months, and has instead decided to target Missouri’s first Black Congresswoman.”

Bell’s work in St. Louis

Bell, 49, was raised in northern St. Louis County and is the son of a police officer and county civil servant, according to his campaign website. After studying political science and public management, he went on to receive a law degree from the University of Missouri.

After graduating from law school, Bell worked as a public defender in St. Louis County and a professor of the criminal justice and legal studies departments at St. Louis Community College from 2011 to 2018.

He first entered the political scene as a city council member for nearby Ferguson, Missouri, in 2015. Bell’s election to the city council was preceded by a year of unrest in Ferguson, following the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson.

In the aftermath of the shooting, Bell “led listening circles and other restorative justice programs” for students at St. Louis Community College, according to the school’s website.

Bell became St. Louis County prosecutor

While Tuesday’s defeat of Bush surprised some, it was not Bell’s first major political upset.

Bell was elected as St. Louis County’s prosecuting attorney in 2018, defeating the popular incumbent Robert McCulloch, a moderate Democrat who had held the position since 1991.

St. Louis voters viewed the election as a referendum on the events in Ferguson, with the Associated Press noting that much of the race centered on Brown’s death and the emerging Black Lives Matter movement.

As the county’s top prosecutor, Bell reopened the examination into the officer-involved shooting. He ultimately declined to prosecute Wilson for Brown’s death, announcing in 2020 that he did not find enough evidence to charge the officer.

“My heart breaks” for Brown’s parents, Bell said during a press conference in July 2020. “I know this is not the result they were looking for and that their pain will continue forever.”

Bell faced backlash for his decision, including in a campaign ad that featured Brown’s father, Michael Brown Sr.

In the ad, Brown endorsed Bush, saying that her opponent had “used my family for power” and was “trying to sell out St. Louis.”

Bell backed by pro-Israel groups

The United Democracy Project, a super PAC aligned with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), poured over $8 million into the campaign to boost Bell’s bid to replace Bush in Congress. Meanwhile, Justice Democrats, a PAC that has opposed U.S. aid to Israel, stated it spent more than $2 million in support of Bush.

The St. Louis primary isn’t the first race in which AIPAC has played a role in 2024. The group has put its weight behind an array of candidates challenging some of the most vocal Democratic lawmakers criticizing Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza.

AIPAC’s targeted spending had already proven successful in defeating one other member of the Squad: New York Congressman Jamaal Bowman. The deep-pocked group reportedly spent close to $15 million on their campaign against Bowman, who lost in June to moderate Democrat George Latimer.

AdImpact shows that the New York race was the most expensive House primary on record. The matchup between Bell and Bush was the second most costly, with $18.2 million spent between the candidates.

Karissa Waddick contributed to the reporting of this story.

Melissa Cruz is an elections reporting fellow who focuses on voter access issues for the USA TODAY Network. You can reach her at [email protected] or on X, formerly Twitter, at @MelissaWrites22.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who beat Cori Bush? A look at Wesley Bell who won the Missouri primary