Bush and Bell battle for votes in final week of primary season

There’s exactly one week to go before election day, and U.S. Representative Cori Bush and her primary challenger are in the final sprint for votes. Bush, who spent the weekend fundraising in Chicago, dropped an emotional new campaign spot on Saturday, while St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell has been pressing the flesh all over town.

Jordan Blase Sanders, Bell’s campaign manager, says her candidate spent Saturday canvassing in Olivette and on Sunday knocked on doors in North City before heading to a BBQ with organized labor in Tower Grove Park.

“He’s hit everywhere at least once,” says Sanders. “Our paid canvassers are out everyday all over the place.”

Bell comes into the home stretch with plenty of money for those paid canvassers. According to filings from July 17, Bell had $1.78 million cash on hand compared to Bush’s $354,000. And that’s not counting the flurry of support he’s received from independent groups, which have papered the district in mailers.

On Saturday, Bush sought to decrease that advantage by appearing at a fundraiser hosted by Congresswoman Delia Ramirez, who represents Illinois’ 3rd Congressional District. Ramirez, like Bush, has been critical of Israel’s war in Gaza. An invitation for the Chicago fundraiser billed Bush as a “Ceasefire Champion.” 

Also on Saturday, the Bush campaign dropped a campaign ad featuring Michael Brown Sr., who says he feels like he was lied to when Bell reopened the case against police officer Darren Wilson, only to not bring charges. Next week marks the tenth anniversary of the death of Michael Brown Jr., which led to widespread protests, municipal court reform and voters tossing Bell’s predecessor in the prosecutor’s office, Robert McCulloch, from office. But Brown Sr. says that Bell has let down activists.

“He never walked the streets of Fergsuon with me,” Brown Sr. says in the ad. “He failed to reform the [county prosecutor’s] office.”

Much of Bush’s campaign strategy has been to try to convince voters her opponent is a closet Republican. Meanwhile, Bell has argued the congresswoman’s radical politics prevent her from  bringing home the goods for her district. 

“Every district has resources that are coming to it. But any resources beyond that, you got to build coalitions to bring them home,” Bell told SLM at a campaign stop last week at a senior housing complex in Midtown St. Louis. “If you’re not working with the Democratic party, you’re not working with the Congressional Black Caucus, you’re definitely not working across the aisle, how are you getting anything in addition to what’s already coming?” 

Bell called this problem the “straw that broke the camel’s back” that convinced him to exit the race for U.S. Senate and challenge Bush instead. He specifically cites a $5.4 million grant the federal government awarded the airport in Springfield, Missouri, as money that he thinks could have come to St. Louis if Bush had a better relationship with the Biden White House and had voted for the president’s infrastructure bill.

Bush’s campaign did not respond to SLM’s questions yesterday. However, it was previously reported in March that Bush did receive the endorsement of the Congressional Black Caucus’ PAC. Her website also touts several pieces of legislation she introduced that Biden signed into law, including ones focused on renewable energy and a joint effort with then-Republican Senator Roy Blunt to secure $27 million in recovery aid for St. Louis after floods in 2022.  

Objection! One prominent criminal defense attorney—who did not want to be named for fear of retribution—expressed frustration to SLM that one of Bell’s campaign ads was partly filmed in the office of perhaps the city’s most prominent defense attorney, Scott Rosenblum. Rosenblum’s son also works for Bell’s office. “A sitting prosecutor releasing an ad that is shot in the office and using the desk of the biggest defense attorney in town should be a scandal,” the tipster attorney said. 

Tale of the Tape: Last night, Drop Site News published audio leaked by a Bush supporter of a June 2023 call between Bell—then running for U.S. Senate—and the congresswoman. “I am not running against you,” Bell assured Bush on the call. “That is not happening.” The impetus for the call was a column by the Post-Dispatch’s Joe Holleman suggesting Bell was gearing up to challenge Bush. Bell twice called Holleman a “hack” on the call. Four months later, Bell dropped his Senate bid to take on Bush. 

What’s Next: Bell has consistently led in the polls, including one that dropped yesterday showing him leading Bush by six points among Democrats. The number of potentially swayable voters decreases a little bit every day as locals take advantage of no-excuse absentee voting, which started a week ago.