Anti-Israel Democrats Suffer Key Primary Defeats Despite El-Sayed Wins

Cori Bush lost her reelection campaign to Bell in August 2024 while making her opposition to Israel a key talking point of the race.

By Corey Walker, The Algemeiner

While progressives celebrated several high-profile victories in Michigan on Tuesday, candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and the party’s anti-Israel wing suffered a series of notable defeats elsewhere, underscoring the limits of the movement’s electoral reach.

The most closely watched race unfolded in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, where Rep. Wesley Bell decisively defeated former Rep. Cori Bush in a rematch of their 2024 primary. Bush, a former member of the “Squad” and one of Congress’s most outspoken critics of Israel, sought to reclaim the St. Louis-area seat after blaming her previous defeat on pro-Israel outside spending. Instead, Democratic voters handed Bell another convincing victory, reaffirming support for a more mainstream Democrat who has backed the U.S.-Israel alliance. Bell’s win marked one of the clearest setbacks of the night for the party’s activist left.

Bush lost her reelection campaign to Bell in August 2024 while making her opposition to Israel a key talking point of the race. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the foremost pro-Israel lobbying group in the US, flooded the race with a staggering $8.4 million to secure her ouster. During her concession speech, Bush blamed AIPAC for her loss and vowed to dismantle the organization’s “kingdom.”

During her tenure in office, Bush established herself as one of the most outspoken critics against Israel, and her conduct in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel drew widespread outrage. Only nine days after the atrocities, Bush called for an “immediate ceasefire” between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group, before the former even launched a ground offensive in Gaza. As the war continued, her rhetoric toward Israel sharpened, with the congresswoman accusing the Jewish state of committing “genocide” in Gaza and “apartheid” in the West Bank. Bush has also accused Israel of inflicting a “famine” in Gaza.

Another disappointment for the DSA came in Missouri’s 4th Congressional District, where democratic socialist Hartzell Gray failed to secure the Democratic nomination. Gray, a Kansas City tenant organizer endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America who campaigned against what he called “sell-out Democrats,” lost to attorney and Air Force veteran Jordan Herrera. The result denied the DSA an opportunity to place another ideological ally on the November ballot.

Gray has described Israel as responsible for “apartheid,” “occupation,” and “genocide,” over the course of the war in Gaza. He has also explicitly praised Hamas as a “resistance” organization. In a social media post, he wrote that “Israel is a settler colonial entity built on erasure & ethnic cleansing.”

In Michigan, establishment-aligned Democrats also found success. State Sen. Jeremy Moss won the Democratic nomination in the state’s 11th Congressional District after earning support from many of Michigan’s leading Democratic officials. Moss now enters the general election as the favorite in the Democratic-leaning suburban district. Moss notched 49.2 percent of the vote compared to his pro-palestinian opponent Aisha Farooqi, who earned 32.9 percent.

“Thank you, Oakland County! It’s the honor of a lifetime to be your Democratic nominee,” Moss wrote on X/Twitter.

Moss, who is Jewish, did not feature Israel as a central component of his campaign. However, he has visited Israel and posted photos of himself in the country on his public Instagram page. He also condemned the Oct. 7 massacres and has expressed support for mainstream pro-Israel positions.

“The overwhelming majority of American Jewish voters believe that both Israel has a right to defend itself from terrorism & Palestinians have a right to self-determination in a peace-seeking state,” Moss wrote following Oct. 7

Farther north, attorney Callie Barr secured the Democratic nomination in Michigan’s 1st Congressional District, earning a rematch against Republican Rep. Jack Bergman. Barr’s victory ensured that the Democratic nominee in the district will be a candidate focused primarily on economic issues rather than the ideological battles that dominated other primaries.

Barr did not focus much on the Israel-Palestine conflict in her campaign, but suggested that she does not harbor any animus towards the state despite having issues with its government.

“We need to distinguish between Netanyahu and Israel,” Barr said, “I’m 110-percent focused on what’s happening here at home. Some candidates are only focused on the Middle East.”

Blomquist, conversely, centered his disdain for Israel as a major element of his failed campaign.

“I call now and throughout my candidacy for an end to the genocide in Gaza, the resumption of U.N.-administered humanitarian aid, a halt to all U.S. political and material support for the state of Israel, and the recognition of a Palestinian state,” Blomquist wrote on his campaign website.

For pro-Israel Democrats and moderates, the results offered evidence that outspoken opposition to Israel and DSA-backed activism do not automatically translate into primary success. The defeats of Bush and Gray demonstrated that Democratic primary voters in several key races continued to favor candidates viewed as more pragmatic and broadly electable.

Still, the overall picture was far from a sweeping rejection of the progressive movement.

Michigan delivered some of the left’s biggest victories of the cycle. Progressive physician Abdul El-Sayed won the Democratic Senate nomination, William Lawrence captured the Democratic nomination in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, and Donavan McKinney unseated incumbent Rep. Shri Thanedar in the 13th District. Those victories highlighted the continued strength of progressive candidates in parts of Michigan and demonstrated that the party’s ideological battles remain highly regional rather than national.

Taken together, Tuesday’s primaries painted a nuanced picture of the Democratic Party. While DSA-backed and anti-Israel candidates suffered significant defeats in Missouri and moderates prevailed in several House contests, progressives continued to demonstrate considerable strength in Michigan. Rather than signaling a decisive victory for either faction, the results suggested that Democratic voters remain divided, rewarding different brands of candidates depending on local political dynamics and the priorities of individual districts.