A 20-year House Democrat has been toppled by an insurgent primary challenger for a Missouri district once held by his father.
Rep. William Lacy Clay, 64, lost his primary race against pastor and Ferguson activist Cori Bush to continue representing Missouri’s 1st Congressional District. Their Aug. 4 contest was a rematch of their 2018 meeting, in which Clay, a prominent Congressional Black Caucus voice, defeated Bush by almost 20 percentage points.
Clay was first elected by the district, which captures St. Louis City and St. Louis County to the north, in 2000. He succeeded his father, former Rep. Bill Clay. The elder Clay, a founding CBC member, served the district for the 24 years prior to that.
Bush was endorsed by the Justice Democrats. The liberal group helped propel other far-left candidates, such as New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in their congressional campaigns last cycle. Ocasio-Cortez didn’t endorse Bush, despite starring alongside her in Netflix’s 2019 documentary Knock Down the House.
Bush’s win marks the seventh successful primary challenge of 2020, felling the third Democrat this year.
