Rep. Wesley Bell and former Rep. Cori Bush appeared together at St. Louis Public Radio on July 24, 2026. The two Democrats are getting ready for a rematch: they are running against each other again in a primary election for Missouri's 1st Congressional District, which covers St. Louis. Jason Rosenbaum of St. Louis Public Radio hosted the event and later called the atmosphere "tense," saying there was significant animosity between the two candidates, in an interview with NPR's Ailsa Chang. (NPR)

The district is solidly Democratic, so whoever wins the primary is expected to serve in Congress. Bell beat Bush in the 2024 primary for the same seat. That race drew millions in spending from pro-Israel groups, including AIPAC, an organization that lobbies for strong U.S.-Israel relations. Bush was part of the Squad, a group of left-wing House Democrats. (PBS NewsHour, Times of Israel)

At the event, Bush said Bell did not quickly endorse Kamala Harris for president in 2024 after Joe Biden dropped out of the race. Rosenbaum confirmed that both Bush and Bell ultimately endorsed Harris. (NPR)

The sharpest disagreement was about Israel's military campaign in Gaza. Bush has criticized the Biden administration for how it handled Israel's military actions in Gaza. At the forum, she said Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, two major human rights organizations, have declared that a genocide is happening in Gaza. She said she would cut off military aid to Israel, pointing to tens of thousands of civilian deaths in Gaza and Lebanon. (NPR)

Bell, when pressed by Rosenbaum, would not call Israel's actions in Gaza a genocide. He has voted against efforts by House Democrats to cut off military aid to Israel. Bush said Bell benefited from millions of dollars in advertising from pro-Israel groups including AIPAC. (NPR)

The broader context here is that the Democratic Party is still divided over the Gaza conflict, and primaries like this one are where those divisions get tested. The 2024 Bell-Bush race was one of two major primaries that year where spending by AIPAC-aligned groups helped defeat a Squad member. The 2026 rematch tests whether that result holds now that Bush is the challenger and the president has changed. The difference between the candidates is clear: Bush wants to cut off military aid to Israel and calls the Gaza campaign a genocide, while Bell opposes cutting off aid and rejects that label. What is not yet known is whether St. Louis Democratic primary voters, who effectively decide who serves in Congress, will move toward or away from Bush's positions.

By raising both the Harris endorsement timing and the Israel-Gaza question, Bush appears to be trying to paint Bell as out of step with the Democratic base on two fronts: party loyalty during a presidential race and foreign policy now. Bell's approach, rejecting the genocide label while pointing to his votes against aid cutoffs, puts him in line with the Democratic mainstream on Israel, but it also gives Bush an opening to attack him. The situation is worth watching because the same outside spending that helped decide the 2024 race is still active, and the debate over Gaza aid has only grown sharper since then.