ST. LOUIS — The campaign of U.S. Rep. Cori Bush appears to have worked itself out of debt, federal reports indicate.
According to filings with the Federal Election Commission, the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Democrat’s campaign now has $215,571 on hand, with only $4,830 in outstanding debt.
In October, Bush’s report showed her campaign was almost $130,000 in debt, with only $20,000 cash on hand.
The filings Wednesday, which covered both the fourth quarter of 2023 and the entire year, showed Bush’s campaign made payments to firms she owed back in September.
Those companies are a Washington, D.C. law firm; a Vermont campaign strategy company; a political database company in Pennsylvania; two prominent D.C. fundraising services; and a Las Vegas accounting firm.
That positive note for Bush’s campaign comes on the heels of the negative news that federal authorities have subpoenaed records to investigate her campaign spending.
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Overall, Bush’s campaign took in $486,514 and spent $294,599 in the last three months of 2023.
Bush has confirmed the federal probe and said investigators are looking into her spending on security services.
Some of Bush’s spending on security has included payments to her husband, Cortney Merritts III. The latest reports show that Bush’s campaign still is paying Merritts, to the tune of $17,500 over the last three months of 2023.
Originally labeled as “security services,†the campaign payments to Merritts now have been reclassified as “wage expenses.â€
Bush maintains that federal campaign law allows for Merritts’ employment, because he provides a valid service at a fair-market price.
As to the federal investigation, Bush received some support from ºüÀêÊÓƵ Mayor Tishaura O. Jones.
On Wednesday, Jones told reporters: “A congressional ethics panel has already cleared her and has already looked at this particular issue. I am hopeful that the Department of Justice will determine the same.â€
Jones was referring to a finding in late October by the Office of Congressional Ethics, which voted unanimously to tied to the payments to Merritts.
A second, similar complaint filed by the , a nonpartisan watchdog group, still is pending.
But Jones stopped short of endorsing Bush in the upcoming August primary.
“We interview all candidates after filing has closed. After those interviews we will make a determination whether or not we will endorse,†she said.
As to other candidates, recent FEC reports show that Bush’s main challenger for her 1st Congressional District seat raised more money than her in the last three months of 2023.
ºüÀêÊÓƵ County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell took in slightly more than $490,000 since Oct. 1, a bit more than Bush’s haul of about $487,000 during the same period.
Bell’s report also shows he has more than twice as much on-hand money, about $409,000, than Bush’s $216,000. Overall, Bell reported expenditures of about $170,000 in the last three months of the year.
The battle between Bush and Bell began in November, when Bell jumped out of a primary bid for the U.S. Senate to oppose Bush.
That switch came on the heels of Bush’s embrace of a pro-Palestine stance after the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by terrorist group Hamas.
Some political observers also note that Bell likely will benefit financially from a $100 million war chest put together by pro-Israel lobbying groups and political action committees. The coalition’s money is earmarked to fund primary opponents, like Bell, of progressive legislators, like Bush, who have not supported Israel in its ongoing conflict with Hamas.
Mark Schlinkmann of the Post-Dispatch provided information for this report.