A 1st Congressional District candidate forum that risked having a lack of candidates Thursday actually ended up with a full slate of hopefuls — highlighted by a snippet of sniping between one challenger and the incumbent’s spouse.
The Hadley and Clayton Democratic Township groups extended invitations to U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, D-ºüÀêÊÓƵ; ºüÀêÊÓƵ County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell; former state legislator Maria Chappelle-Nadal; and Ron Harshaw.
By Thursday afternoon, organizers were not sure if Bush would attend. Given the lack of Bush’s confirmation, Bell’s campaign said it would not participate.
But both Bush and Bell ultimately did show up, making their appearances shortly after 8 p.m. for the event that began at 7 p.m. and was set to end at 8:30.
People are also reading…
Bush began her five-minute speech about 8:05 p.m. and was about two minutes into it when Bell entered the conference room at the Richmond Heights community center.
Bell arrived in time to hear Bush lambast him for accepting donations from the American Israel Political Action Committee, a powerful lobbying group that supports Israeli causes.
This shot at Bell would later become a key component of a brief but pointed exchange between Bell and Bush’s husband, Cortney Merritts III.
In her speech, Bush decried Bell for taking money from AIPAC, pointing out that the lobby is supporting anti-abortion candidates, “Republicans†and “insurrectionists.â€
AIPAC and other pro-Israel groups reportedly have set aside millions of dollars to defeat Bush and other members of Congress who they say do not support Israel.
On another subject, a member of the audience asked Bush about her vote against the Biden administration’s $1 trillion infrastructure bill, which eventually passed and included big-ticket projects for the ºüÀêÊÓƵ area.
Bush replied that she was in favor of the bill, but voted against it because it did not include funding for a separate bill of projects that Bush endorsed.
When it came time for Bell’s five-minute speech, he pounced on Bush’s infrastructure explanation, calling it “twisted logic, to say you supported it but voted against it.â€
He also said voters should replace Bush so they could return “grounded, reasonable leadership†to the 1st Congressional District.
After Bell was done with his set piece, a member of the audience asked how Bell could accept money from AIPAC, given its support of positions in opposition to Democrats.
Bell responded that AIPAC is a special interest group and, like most other such groups, supports candidates based solely on their stands on a specific issue.
Then, Bell noted that Bush has received staunch support from a person who has “advocated violence, literally†against Jews.
At that point, Merritts called out from the back of the room for Bell to name the person. When Bell asked Merritts to repeat his question, Merritts said, “What’s the name?’
Bell shot back, “You can look it up yourself.â€
Bell’s campaign manager, Jordan Blase Sanders, said Bell was referring to Neveen Ayesh, who previously has been called out for making threats against Jews and Israel.
Ayesh, a leader of the Missouri chapter of American Muslims for Palestine, has been prominent in recent area protests, including the unrest Saturday on the Washington University campus.
The storm around Ayesh goes back to 2014, when on social media she said, “I want to set Israel on fire with my own hands & watch it burn to ashes along with every Israeli in it.â€
Ayesh has since disavowed several antisemitic statements, saying she was “young, dumb and said horrible things that I never acted on, that I would never act on, because I am not that person.â€
After the forum broke up, Merritts declined to discuss the exchange with Bell. “I’m just a citizen who spoke out,†he said.
Merritts, who joined Bush’s campaign staff in 2022, has been at the center of controversy before.
After he and Bush were married in February 2023, Bush kept him on her campaign payroll and pays him $5,000 a month. Bush has confirmed that federal investigators are looking into her spending on security services.
The candidates will face off in the Aug. 6 primary. The district covers ºüÀêÊÓƵ and parts of north and central-west ºüÀêÊÓƵ County. Because it is heavily Democratic, the primary winner is virtually assured of victory in the November general election.
With about three months left before the primary, Bell holds a more than 2-to-1 lead in campaign cash on hand, according to the latest federal election reports.
While a lesser-known candidate, Ron Harshaw, addressed Thursday audience by telephone, former state legislator Maria Chappelle-Nadal was the only one to show up by the forum’s starting time.
Her remarks — which were made before Bell and Bush showed up — focused on Bell’s failure to prosecute dangerous criminals and Bush’s failure to fight hard to get compensation for victims of radiation exposure.
She opened by saying, “Legislating is not just protesting.â€
And her closing line about her campaign promises drew laughs from the crowd. “I promise no drama,†she said. “My opponents have drama.â€
Editor’s note: This story has been edited to correct the dollar amount of the infrastructure bill.