Happy primary day! Here are the top races we are tracking today.
Will Bush be the second Squad member to lose their primary?
Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) is locked in a tight primary challenge against Wesley Bell — a high-profile race that has again featured millions of dollars in outside spending. Bush, who unseated longtime Democratic Rep. William Lacy Clay Jr. (Mo.) in 2020, is now at risk of losing her own 1st District seat.
Bush is a liberal firebrand whose strongly pro-Palestinian views have attracted AIPAC’s super PAC to spend $9.1 million to elect Bell. Bush recently told the New York Times that she didn’t know if Hamas was a terrorist organization, saying Black Lives Matter protesters in Ferguson, Mo., were once labeled terrorists. Bell, a fellow Black Democrat who is the St. Louis County’s prosecuting attorney, has attacked Bush for voting against the infrastructure act and not accurately representing her constituents.
If Bell wins, it’ll be another blow for the far-left Squad this summer. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) lost his primary in June.
Will another pro-impeachment House Republican fall?
Former President Donald Trump has endorsed two Republican challengers to incumbent GOP Rep. Dan Newhouse in Washington’s 4th District. Newhouse is one of only two House Republicans left in Congress who voted to impeach Trump following the Jan. 6 insurrection. In Washington’s primary system, the top two vote-getters regardless of party advance. We’ll be tracking if either Jerrod Sessler or Tiffany Smiley make the cut.
Are any upsets on the horizon in Michigan’s marquee Senate race?
Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) and former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) are the heavy favorites to advance to the general election to fill retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s (D-Mich.) seat. But it’s not a procession for either candidate, with Slotkin facing actor Hill Harper and Rogers facing the likes of former Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.).
Elsewhere in Michigan, Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.) faces a primary challenge in the 13th District from Detroit City Councilmember Mary Waters. Waters is backed by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan. In a boost for Thanedar, however, a would-be challenger endorsed by top Congressional Black Caucus leaders was thrown off the ballot earlier this year.
In the state’s 8th District, two Republicans — failed 2022 candidate Paul Junge and Mary Draves — are facing off to fill the open seat vacated by Rep. Dan Kildee’s (D-Mich.) upcoming retirement.
— Max Cohen
