Former ºüÀêÊÓƵ County Executive Charlie Dooley will not be rooting for U.S. Rep. Cori Bush to get reelected in 2024.
Dooley, who 20 years ago became county government’s first — and only — Black chief executive, has endorsed ºüÀêÊÓƵ County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell in his bid to unseat Bush.Â
Bell on Monday announced he was dropping out of the Democratic contest for U.S. Senate and would instead challenge Bush in next year’s Democratic primary in the 1st Congressional District.Â
Bush, a ºüÀêÊÓƵ Democrat and two-term incumbent, recently has come under fire for her statements regarding Hamas’ attack on Israel last month.
Along with Dooley’s blessing, Bell’s fledgling campaign also picked up endorsements from a baker’s dozen of municipal mayors and police chiefs.
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The mayoral endorsement list includes the leaders of ºüÀêÊÓƵ County’s two largest municipalities: Tim Lowery of Florissant and Bob Nation of Chesterfield.
Other mayors in Bell’s camp are Ella Jones, Ferguson; Amy Poelker, St. Ann; Yolanda Austin, Jennings; Nathaniel Griffin, Wellston; James McGee, Vinita Park; and Dorothy Moore, Hillsdale.
The police chiefs lining up on Bell’s behalf are: John Bernsen, Hillsdale; John Buchanan, North County Police Cooperative; Anthony Huckleberry, Pagedale; Aaron Jiminez, St. Ann; and Mike Weigand, Eureka.
Other notable endorsements came from former state legislator and Creve Coeur official Jill Schupp; and as reported Wednesday, Rabbi Susan Talve, a founder of the Central Reform Congregation in ºüÀêÊÓƵ.
A race between Bush and Bell pits two veterans of the Ferguson unrest in 2014 against each other: Bush was an activist who helped lead protests; and Bell was elected to the Ferguson City Council in 2015.
The 1st Congressional District, which includes all of ºüÀêÊÓƵ and much of north ºüÀêÊÓƵ County, is solidly Democratic and about 50% African American.
Persistent political talk points to more possible challenges to Bush, most likely from state Sen. Brian Williams, D-University City, who has been unavailable for comment.
Sources say Williams is assessing the situation to see where organized labor and pro-Israel political committees stand in the race against Bush.
One powerful pro-Israel group, AIPAC, has been feuding with Bush — as well as other members of the progressive group in Congress known as “The Squad†— over the Israel-Hamas conflict.
AIPAC is well-known in political circles as a well-funded organization that is capable of, and willing to, infuse large amounts of money to defeat legislators they believe are anti-Israel.
(Fun facts: Before he was elected in 1994 to the ºüÀêÊÓƵ County Council, Dooley served 11 years as mayor of Northwoods, a small North County municipality. He was succeeded by Errol Bush, Cori Bush's father, who served eight years as mayor and now is a Northwoods alderman. Also, Dooley ran unsuccessfully in 2000 for the 1st District congressional seat, losing in the Democratic primary to William Lacy Clay, who in turn lost to Cori Bush in 2020.)