Cori Bush wants her seat back. The former Missouri congresswoman announced Friday that she’s launching a comeback bid more than a year after losing her primary.
“St. Louis deserves a leader who is built different,” Bush declared in a video. “That’s why I’m running to represent Missouri’s 1st District in Congress. We need a fighter who will lower costs, protect our communities, and make life fairer. I’ll be that fighter.”
Bush was ousted in August 2024 by Wesley Bell, a more moderate Democrat and St. Louis County prosecutor. Pro-Israel groups poured millions into the race to help defeat her.
“I ran for Congress to change things for regular people,” Bush said. “I’m running again because St. Louis deserves leadership that doesn’t wait for permission, doesn’t answer to wealthy donors and doesn’t hide when things get tough.”
Bush first won her seat in 2020, quickly joining the ranks of the progressive “Squad.” She was re-elected in 2022 but became the second member of the group to lose a primary last year, following Jamaal Bowman in New York.
Like Bowman, Bush was outspoken against U.S. support for Israel. She blasted Israel’s response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack as a “war crime” and accused the country of “collective punishment against Palestinians.”
“All across America, we see it,” Bush said. “Our rights rolled back, our history being rewritten, our lives on the line. The stakes for our community here have never been higher.”
Her return bid comes against a shifting political backdrop. Republicans control the White House and Congress, with new district maps giving them even more of an edge in Missouri and Texas.
Still, Bush insists her fight isn’t over. “The Squad will keep fighting,” she told POLITICO. “The number of people on the team will be smaller, but they’ve never been silent. Anyone who underestimates our power is severely mistaken, because we aren’t going anywhere, and I will always be Squad.”