Former Rep. Cori Bush, the Missouri Democrat who lost her position in 2024 after the American Israel Public Affairs Committee spent $8.6 against her, has formally entered the race to reclaim the seat.
Bush filed to run against the incumbent, Democrat Wesley Bell, on Tuesday in the state capital of Jefferson City, Mo.
She emphasized that she would not take corporate political action committee contributions for her campaign.
“The tide has already turned, and people are saying no—they want to be the ones to pick their representatives,” Bush said at a rally after filing to run. “And so, whether that money filters into the community or not, I think the community is also going to call out any candidate who is accepting that money.”
Bush had been a member of the far-left, anti-Israel “Squad” in the U.S. House of Representatives.
She lost the 2024 primary to Bell, who was elected to the House that fall. AIPAC congratulated Bell “for his consequential victory over an incumbent anti-Israel detractor.”
Taking a swipe at AIPAC, she emphasized that she would not take corporate political action committee contributions for her campaign.
Bush announced in December that she would run again. Her campaign video singled out AIPAC’s opposition to her 2024 re-election.
“Because I spoke truth, they pushed back, attacked my name, my motives, spread lies and hate,” she said in the video over headlines of AIPAC spending against her.
AIPAC’s affiliated super PAC, the United Democracy Project, also spent $14.6 million in a successful attempt to defeat another “Squad” member, Jamaal Bowman of New York. He lost the Democratic primary to George Latimer, who went on to victory in the general election.
