Prosecutor Wesley Bell Withdraws From The Senate Campaign To Run Against Cori Bush In The House

Prosecutor Wesley Bell Withdraws From The Senate Campaign To Run Against Cori Bush In The House. Prosecuting Attorney Cori Bell, 48, will oppose Missouri’s first Black Senator, Cori Bush, in the 2024 Democratic primary for Missouri’s 1st Congressional District seat.

Both candidates emerged as political forces following the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, which helped spark the national Black Lives Matter movement.

Bush was elected to the House in 2020 and won reelection in 2022. In 2018, Bell unseated Bob McCulloch as St. Louis County prosecutor.

Prosecutor Wesley Bell Withdraws From The Senate Campaign To Run Against Cori Bush In The House. Bell said at a news conference that he was changing course, even though he felt he was the Democrat best positioned to defeat Hawley. He also was critical of Bush’s stance on Hamas and Israel.

The Bush campaign called it “disheartening that Prosecuting Attorney Bell has decided to abandon his US 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.”

Bush was easily reelected last year despite a challenge from Democratic state Sen. Steve Roberts, who positioned himself as a more moderate alternative.

Last week, she was among just 10 House members who voted against a resolution supporting Israel following the attacks by Hamas that began Oct. 7. Her comments have drawn rebukes from some, including former Democratic U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri.

In the Democratic Senate primary, Bell was positioned against four other candidates. The projected frontrunner is Marine veteran Lucas Kunce, who launched his campaign to unseat Hawley in January, on the anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots.

Bell highlighted a now-famous photo of Hawley raising a closed fist in solidarity that day, as well as a video of the senator running through the halls during the attack.

Bell and Bush had contrasting styles in Ferguson, where the shooting led to months of unrest. Critics accused McCulloch, who is white, of skewing the investigation into Brown’s death in favor of Wilson. A St. Louis County grand jury declined to indict Wilson, who later resigned.

The U.S. Department of Justice also declined to charge him — and so did Bell. Bell said in 2020 that his office did not find enough evidence to charge Wilson. He called on Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature to revise laws that offer protection against prosecution for police officers that regular citizens aren’t afforded.

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