Democratic Missouri Rep Lacy Clay Loses Primary To Progressive Challenger Cori Bush
From DAILYCALLER.COM
Democratic Rep. Lacy Clay lost his primary in Missouri’s 1st District Tuesday to Cori Bush, a former nurse and pastor, becoming the seventh incumbent congressman to be unseated this year.
Bush, a progressive who supports the Green New Deal, Medicare-for-All and defunding the police, beat Clay by just over three points, according to The New York Times. Clay has represented the district since 1991, when he was elected to replace his father, who had held the seat since 1969.
Though progressive challengers have beaten multiple establishment Democrats in recent years, including New York Reps. Joe Crowley in 2018 and Eliot Engel in July, Clay is the first lawmaker of color to fall in such a primary, Politico reported.
Clay defeated Bush by nearly 20 points in the 2018 primary, but protests over police brutality and racial inequality have dramatically shaken Democratic politics, Politico reported, especially in St. Louis, which is southeast of Ferguson.
“Tonight, Missouri’s 1st District has decided that an incremental approach isn’t going to work any longer,” Bush told supporters after the race was called. “We decided that we the people have the answers, and we will lead from the front lines.”
Though Clay, a senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus, had touted his relationships to establishment Democrats, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Kamala Harris, and had expressed support for some of the same progressive policies as Bush, according to The New York Times.
Bush, who was endorsed by the progressive group Justice Democrats, is set to be the first black woman to represent Missouri in Congress, The New York ... (Read more)
Submitted 1357 days ago
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