‘THEY COUNTED US OUT’

Black Lives Matter Activist Cori Bush Ends Half-Century Democratic Dynasty in Missouri Primary Upset

Cori Bush edged out longtime Rep. William Lacy Clay in Tuesday’s vote.

Cori Bush—a nurse and leading Black Lives Matter activist—has ousted longtime Rep. William Lacy Clay in Missouri’s Democratic primary, bringing an end to a half-century political dynasty. Clay has represented the state’s 1st Congressional District since 2001, when he succeeded his father as the district’s representative. Bush edged out the veteran in Tuesday’s vote, according to the Associated Press, with nearly 49 percent of the vote. She told supporters: “They counted us out... They called me—I’m just the protester, I’m just the activist with no name, no title and no real money. That’s all they said that I was. But St. Louis showed up today.” Bush is now almost certain to become first Black woman to represent Missouri in Congress. She entered public life in 2014 after a white police officer shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed Black teenager, in Ferguson, and has spent this summer at protests in the district following the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.