The Latest: Rep. Wesley Bell fends off primary challenge from Cori Bush in Missouri rematch
Rep. Wesley Bell won Tuesday's Democratic primary in Missouri's 1st Congressional District against former Rep. Cori Bush, settling a rematch that provided a test of America's evolving viewpoints on Israel.
Bell was backed by a political group affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The pro-Israeli group also financed his ouster of Bush in the 2024 primary after Bush criticized Israel’s response to Hamas’ attack on the country in 2023.
Meanwhile, Michigan will offer the country its clearest gauge yet on the direction of the Democratic Party, as primary voters in the battleground state choose between a progressive standard-bearer and an establishment-backed candidate for their Senate nominee.
Although there have been similar contests around the country, this one will hold extra weight because Michigan is a key state in presidential races. Abdul El-Sayed, backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, is up against four-term Rep. Haley Stevens, supported by Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.
Democratic and Republican voters in Michigan are also deciding on their parties’ nominees to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
In Kansas, Missouri, Virginia and Washington state, voters are settling primaries in a host of races. Also in play is whether Democrats, who tried to redraw districts in Virginia to their advantage but were rebuffed by the state supreme court, can pick candidates who can defeat Republicans in the fall.
Here is a look at the Latest:
Spending on broadcast and digital advertising reached nearly $13 million during the campaign over an unsuccessful proposal to amend the Kansas Constitution to elect state Supreme Court justices, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. Voters rejected the measure in Tuesday’s primary.
Opponents of the Kansas ballot measure spent almost $9 million on broadcast and digital ads. That was more than twice as much as the $4 million spent by supporters.
The governor now appoints the justices from among three finalists selected by a nominating commission, with no role for the Republican-controlled Legislature. The measure’s backers had hoped that if they were successful, they could start electing conservative justices in 2028.
Twenty-two states elect their justices, and some have multi-million dollar races. In Wisconsin, spending in a race last year topped $100 million.
James, who represents Michigan’s 10th Congressional District, was endorsed by Trump in late June.
His biggest opponent, business owner Perry Johnson, spent about $30 million of his own money on his campaign, according to campaign finance filings. James’ win adds him to the list of Trump-backed candidates who prevailed in primaries around the country, including in Indiana and Louisiana.
James will face Democrat Jocelyn Benson in November. The race to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — who won the last gubernatorial election by nearly 11 percentage points — will be closely watched in swing state Michigan, which voted for Trump in 2024.
She won Tuesday’s primary even though term-limited Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly endorsed one of her opponents, fellow Kansas City-area state Sen. Ethan Corson.
Holscher has said she entered politics as a parent concerned about funding for public schools, winning a Kansas House seat in 2016 before capturing her Senate seat in 2020.
She portrayed herself as more of a fighter than her opponents. Her campaign had a populist tone and she even criticized the highest profile business development deal of Kelly’s tenure as governor — $2.4 billion in bonds for a new stadium, training facility and retail development to lure professional football’s Kansas City Chiefs out of Missouri.
The measure would have amended the state constitution to have Supreme Court justices elected rather than initially appointed by the governor.
Supporters pitched the measure to voters as increasing democracy, but their goal has been to move the court to the right so that it overturns a landmark 2019 decision declaring that the Kansas Constitution protects abortion rights. Voters soundly rejected a proposed amendment in 2022 that would have nullified that decision.
Conservatives also have been upset for at least 20 years over Supreme Court decisions forcing the Legislature to boost spending on public schools.
Advocates of abortion rights and public schools fought the amendment.
Brattin, a Republican state senator, prevailed in a six-way primary for the right to take on longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver in the November general election. Brattin is a Marine veteran and a founding member of the legislature’s conservative Missouri Freedom Caucus.
Missouri was the second Republican state, after Texas, to respond to Trump’s call last year to redraw congressional districts to the GOP’s advantage ahead of the midterms. The revamped map stretches Cleaver’s previous Kansas City district eastward into rural central Missouri to give the new 5th District a Republican tilt.
Republicans already hold six of Missouri’s eight congressional seats and are hoping to pick up one more.
Diallo Smith, 51, thinks Stevens’ congressional experience and connection to the Detroit area make her the best candidate for Senate. He said the large crowds at Abdul El-Sayed’s event are proof of how politically focused Detroit residents are.
“It’s been a very, very competitive primary race so far, and this is not the last leg of the journey,” Smith said.
Other attendees also cited Stevens’ policy experience and willingness to work across the aisle.
Emily Dove-Medows, 49, said while she hopes for a Stevens win, she would vote for El-Sayed against Republican Mike Rogers. In her eyes, keeping Michigan’s Senate seat blue is crucial to providing a bulwark against the Trump administration, and she said she is cautiously optimistic that the Democratic Party will bridge internal rifts.
“Time heals all wounds, right?” she said. “Maybe it might not happen tomorrow, but I think it will happen eventually.”
Huizenga is seeking reelection in the district that stretches along Lake Michigan in the western part of the state. He defeated opponent Philip Tanis, a former mayor of Holland, Michigan.
Huizenga ran unopposed in the 2022 Republican primary, then had little trouble winning the 2024 primary.
He was a Michigan state representative from 2003 to 2008 and first was elected to Congress in 2011. He planned to launch a U.S. Senate bid in 2025 against former Rep. Mike Rogers until Trump encouraged Huizenga to seek reelection as part of efforts to keep House seats in GOP hands.
The Twitch livestreamer was interviewed on CSPAN as he stood at El-Sayed’s watch party at Detroit’s Majestic Theatre. The crowd let out cheers when Piker was shown on a big screen.
Piker has appeared with El-Sayed multiple times on the campaign trail, receiving criticism from both Republicans and Democrats. Piker has made controversial comments in the past, including that America deserved 9/11.
Amendment 5 would have directed the legislature to phase out the individual income tax as state revenue grows. To spur that along, it also would have allowed lawmakers to expand the sales tax to “any goods and services.” Lawmakers would have had five years to decide which sales to tax without needing further voter approval.
The Missouri measure marks the first time since the modern income tax began over a century ago that a U.S. state legislature has asked voters whether to eliminate it. Alaska is the only state so far to impose a general individual income tax and then repeal it, doing so in 1980 by a legislative vote.
Massachusetts voters rejected income tax eliminations in 2008 and 2002 that were initiated by citizens, not lawmakers.
Bouchard advances to the November general election for a seat Democrats have prioritized as they try to win control of the U.S. House.
Bouchard is an Army veteran and son of long-time sheriff Michael Bouchard. He defeated Steffan Demetropoulos and Justin Kirk in Tuesday’s Republican primary.
The seat is currently held by Republican U.S. Rep. John James, who is running for Michigan governor with Trump’s endorsement.
The district includes a portion of Oakland County and stretches across very red communities in Macomb County. It was created by redistricting after the 2020 U.S. Census.
Amendment 4 would have required future constitutional amendments proposed by citizen initiatives to pass by a majority in each of the state’s congressional districts instead of a simple statewide majority. No other state has a standard that high.
The Republican-led Legislature referred the measure to the ballot after voters in recent years narrowly passed several controversial amendments through citizen initiatives. Those measures enshrined abortion rights, legalized recreational marijuana, allowed sports betting and expanded Medicaid coverage to low-income adults.
But none of those would have passed under a requirement for amendments to win approval in all congressional districts.
Under Amendment 4, the higher standard would have applied only to citizen-initiated amendments — not ones placed on the ballot by the legislature.
About 100 people, many from Haley Stevens’ campaign, mingled over charcuterie and drinks at Stevens’ primary watch party in downtown Detroit. Two large TVs showed election results rolling in.
Stevens has not shown up yet and plans to address the crowd later tonight.
Bell’s primary victory is likely to propel him to reelection in November in the heavily Democratic 1st Congressional District in St. Louis.
Bell, a former St. Louis County prosecutor, was backed by a political group affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The pro-Israeli group also financed his ouster of Bush in the 2024 primary after Bush criticized Israel’s response to Hamas’ attack on the country in 2023.
Bush had been a part of a progressive group of House members known as the “Squad.”
The rematch provided a test of America’s evolving viewpoints on Israel since the last election. A recent survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about 58% of Democrats now say the U.S. is “too supportive” of Israel, up from 45% in an AP-NORC poll from January 2024.
Ty Masterson defeated six other Republican candidates in Tuesday’s election.
He is running to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. The two of them have scrapped regularly over tax cuts and social issues, such as proposals backed by Masterson to restrict abortion providers and to ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth under 18.
If Masterson wins in November, he’s likely to push Kansas to the right.
Masterson has been state Senate president since 2021. He served four years in the state House before being elected to the Senate, where he’s also chaired its budget-writing Ways and Means Committee.
He enters the fall campaign with about $5.7 million in cash — a good start in Kansas, where advertising is relatively inexpensive.
Marshall also has history on his side. No Republican has lost a U.S. Senate race in Kansas since 1932.
Marshall won his Senate seat in 2020 after representing western and central Kansas in the House for four years.
He defeated 10 other candidates in Tuesday’s primary.
Hamilton leads the 22,000-member Church of the Resurrection in the Kansas City area, the nation’s largest Methodist congregation, building it over 35 years from a small group worshiping in the chapel of a funeral home.
He has raised about $4.2 million since launching his campaign at the end of April, a little more than incumbent Republican Sen. Roger Marshall had raised for his reelection bid since the start of last year.
But Marshall didn’t start from zero and went into the fall campaign with $5.7 million, while Hamilton’s balance was about $1.8 million.
Benson, Michigan’s secretary of state since 2018, gained national recognition after defending the results of the 2020 presidential election. She was the first Democrat to serve as secretary of state in Michigan in more than 20 years.
She was seen as the frontrunner in the Democratic primary, defeating opponent Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson.
Benson will face either Republican U.S. Rep. John James, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, or businessman Perry Johnson in November. If elected, Benson would continue the trend of women in statewide executive roles.
The race to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — who won the last gubernatorial election by nearly 11 percentage points — will be closely watched in swing state Michigan, which voted for Trump in 2024.
The crowd gathered in Detroit for Abdul El-Sayed’s primary night party erupted into cheers as a screen displaying CSPAN showed Cori Bush — before quickly turning to loud boos when her opponent, Rep. Wesley Bell, was shown.
Bush is attempting a political comeback Tuesday in a Missouri Democratic primary that tests evolving views on American-Israeli relations, just two years after the progressive “Squad” member was ousted by voters in favor of Bell.
“I’ve fought for my country before, and I’m ready to fight for it again,” Luria wrote.
She said incumbent Jen Kiggans “broke her promise” to be independent in Washington and claimed Kiggans voted with Trump “100 percent of the time.” Kiggans previously voted yes on the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which cut clean energy incentives, despite later supporting offshore wind in her district.
“I’m ready to serve and deliver for the people of Hampton Roads who are being left behind by Jen Kiggans and Donald Trump,” Luria wrote.
The 2nd District is one of the seats Democrats hope to flip in Virginia this fall.
As polls closed in Michigan, early vote counts began to flash on a projector screen at Abdul El-Sayed’s watch party in Detroit. A crowd of supporters erupted as those numbers showed him ahead.
But it’s still early.
His opponent, U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, is targeting a big showing in Wayne County, the state’s largest and the home of Detroit, to hold off what El-Sayed’s campaign expected to be a wider base of support from across the state — including in many of the counties in southeastern Michigan surrounding Wayne.
Wayne County historically has released election results later than most of Michigan, which could result in El-Sayed taking an early lead before votes from Detroit are added later in the night.
The Democratic nominee in Virginia’s 1st Congressional District says her career as a prosecutor would inform her work in Washington if she flips a red seat blue in November.
Taylor has long served as the top elected prosecutor in a suburban Richmond county.
“I’ve spent the last 14 years prosecuting violent criminals, fraudsters and anybody who abuses our trust. If they took advantage of our community, I hold them accountable. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do when I’m in Congress,” she told a crowd of cheering supporters gathered at a restaurant in the district.
Taylor will face longtime incumbent Rob Wittman in the general election. The district tilts slightly in Wittman’s favor.
A spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee said Wittman has a “proven track record of delivering results.”
Among the many supporters streaming into Detroit’s Majestic Theatre tonight at El-Sayed’s watch party were two other high-profile progressives who have had big wins recently.
Chris Rabb, who won the Democratic nomination for a congressional district in Philadelphia in May, and Denver’s Melat Kiros, who won a Colorado House primary, were in attendance. Kiros wore a “Habibi for Abdul” shirt.
Both are self-described members of the Democratic Socialists of America. El-Sayed said that he does not consider himself a democratic socialist.
The problem affected elections clerks’ connection to the state’s list of qualified voters for about an hour, Angela Benander, a spokesperson for Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said Tuesday.
It slowed registering voters at the polls and processing mail ballots. Benander said the secretary of state’s office does not yet know how many counties or precincts were affected or what caused the problem.
However, Benander said in an email to The Associated Press that electronic poll books are not connected to the internet during voting, and that election workers still could check voters in and give them ballots “without delay.”
Problems with e-poll books occur routinely and have delayed voting in the past, including in general elections.
Minutes before polls closed at 8 p.m., Haley Stevens’ primary night event in downtown Detroit was still awaiting supporters. A large stage with a “Haley Stevens for U.S. Senate” podium flanked by U.S. and Michigan flags stood empty.
Stevens spokesperson Joetta Appiah said the campaign expects supporters to arrive after polls close.
In-person Election Day voting ended in Missouri at 7 p.m. local time, which is 8 p.m. ET. Comparable past elections can offer clues about when to expect the first vote results and how long the vote count might take.
In the 2024 state primaries, the AP first reported results at 8:06 p.m. ET, or six minutes after polls closed. The vote count surpassed the halfway mark at about 10:20 p.m. ET. The last vote update of the night was at 12:26 a.m. ET, with about 99.9% of total votes counted.
▶ Follow tonight’s results in Missouri
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