Cori Bush defeats Clay, other takeaways from Tuesday's primaries
WASHINGTON– Progressive candidate Cori Bush defeated 10-term incumbent Rep. William Lacy Clay in the Democratic primary for Missouri's 1st Congressional District, a stunning upset during Tuesday's primaries.
Five states, Michigan, Arizona, Kansas, Missouri and Washington, held primaries Tuesday.
The Missouri House race had echo es of the contest last month for New York's 16th Congressional District in which progressive Jamaal Bowman defeated Rep. Eliot Engel, a 16-term Democratic incumbent.
Bush, a nurse who became a political activist following the police shooting of Michael Brown in 2014 in Ferguson, was endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and is backed by Justice Democrats, who helped elect progressive candidates like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
Clay, first elected in 2000, replaced his father, Rep. Bill Clay Sr ., who served that district from 1969 to 2001 and helped create the Congressional Black Caucus. Clay Jr. received endorsements from Sen. K am ala Harris, D-Calif., as well as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
In 2018, Clay and Bush went head-to-head in the Democratic primary and the incumbent law maker won. But this time around, Bush had a more robust campaign and in the last several weeks outspent Clay on TV and radio ads in recent weeks, according to Huffpost.
Here are some other key takeaways from Tuesday' s primaries:
Roger Marshall beats Kris Kobach in Kansas GOP primary race
In Kansas, Rep. Roger Marshall won the GOP primary to replace retiring Sen. Pat Roberts.
Marshall's main competitor was former Kansas secretary of state Kris Kobach. In the past several weeks, the race tightened between the two after a super PAC with links to Democrats spent $5 million boosting Kobach and slamming Marshall.
Marshall' s victory is also
a win f or Republicans who feared that if Kobach won the primary, it could possibly leave room for the Democrats' candidate to win in the general election in November. In 2018, Kobach as the GOP nominee for Kansas governor lost the race to Democrat Laura Kelly.
However, a Democrat hasn't won a Senate race in Kansas in 88 years.
Marshall, who represents Kansas's 1st Congressional District, was endorsed by Roberts and has the support by the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Marshall will go on to compete against Democrat Barbara Bollier, who won her primary Tuesday evening. Bollier is a state senator who left the Republican Party in 2018.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib beats primary challenger
Incumbent Rep. Rash ida Tlaib warded off her primary challenger in the Democratic primary for Michigan's 13th Congressional District are slowly trickling in.
Tl aib faced off against Brenda Jones, the Detroit City Council president.
Jones jumped into the primary race in late March. Since entering the race, Jones has trailed in fundraising. She also announced in early April that she had tested positive for COVID-19.
This isn't the first time Tlaib faced off against Jones. Tlaib during the 2018 midterms won the six-way primary race by less than 1,000 votes, with Jones finishing a close second.
Tlaib was considered one of the most vulnerable members of the“Squad” for re election. In July, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez, who is also a member of the“Squad” — a group of progressive congresswomen elected in 2018 — bested her own primary challenger last month.
Peter Meijer wins GOP primary to replace Rep. Justin Amash
Peter Meijer, a military veteran and member of the family of a retail chain that shares their family name, won the GOP primary to replace retiring Rep. Justin Amash for Michigan's 3rd Congressional District.
Meijer was viewed as a favorite by pundits to win the race. However, several candidates, including state Rep. Lynn Afendoulis of Grand Rapids Township and former Sand Lake Village Trustee Tom Norton, ran aggressive campaigns against Miejer.
Meijer will go on to compete against the Democratic nominee, Hillary Scholten, in the general election in November. Scholten, an attorney, ran uncontested Tuesday and locked up a handful of major liberal interest group endorsements.
Amash left the Republican party last year after calling for President Donald Trump's impeachment. Amash briefly considered running for president as a third-party candidate, but then decided against it. Last month, he indicated that he would not seek reelection.