Cori Bush faces potential ouster in latest test for progressives

Rep. Cori Bush’s primary on Tuesday is once again putting progressives on guard as they face what could be their second consecutive defeat this cycle.

Bush is squaring off against Wesley Bell, the prosecuting attorney from St. Louis County, in a Missouri race that will test the "squad’s" strength and staying power.

Many progressives see Bush as the potential underdog, especially after Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s (D-N.Y.) loss revealed problems for liberal incumbents.

“I am having flashbacks to my races in 2021 and 2022,” said former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner, who twice tried to win blue-district primaries as an insurgent. It’s “going to be a nail-biter to the end.”

“There are a lot of undecided out there,” Turner said. “If they swing her way, she could win this race. But it should’ve never come to this.” 

The Tuesday primary, whose winner will be the clear favorite to represent the state’s Democratic-leaning 1st Congressional District, has turned contentious amid a bitter divide within the party. Now, progressives fear what happened to Bowman in New York is happening all over again with Bush.

Bell, a centrist who allies insist is a progressive prosecutor, has criticized Bush as being so far-left that she’s out of place in the party. He has argued she has a bad record ...