Incumbent Bob McCulloch, the prosecutor who oversaw the Michael Brown case in Ferguson, Mo., four years ago trailed Ferguson city council member Wesley Bell in Tuesday night’s Democratic primary for St. Louis County prosecuting attorney.
McCulloch was running for re-election for the first time since the 2014 incident that sparked the larger Black Lives Matter movement, when police officer Darren Wilson shot and killed Brown, an unarmed black teenager.
Bell led McCulloch by 10 percentage points with nearly 90 percent of districts reporting late Tuesday, according to the county.
Seven-term incumbent McCulloch faced criticism over his handling of the case and his inability to get an indictment against Wilson. Some accused McCulloch of being too close to law enforcement officials in the area, and therefore unable to properly litigate the case or oversee the investigation, the New York Times reported.
There is no Republican candidate for St. Louis County prosecuting attorney, so the winner of Tuesday’s primary is the likely victor come the general election in November.
Bell, a former public defender, has also served as a municipal prosecutor and judge. He says his goal is to focus on reforming the St. Louis County prosecutor’s office.
