“I Am Bully Proof”

In the 2018 Democratic Primary, activist Cori Bush battled Congressman Lacy Clay for the seat he has held since succeeding his father, Bill Clay, in 2001. Bush hoped to combine support from national progressive groups, public backing from prominent allies, and her award-winning career as an advocate for marginalized communities in St. Louis to become the first woman to represent the city in Congress. Unseating the popular incumbent was a monumental task, and Bush’s bid for office ultimately came up well short, earning just 37% of the vote against Clay’s 57%. Still, the campaign revealed the appetite for an insurgent campaign in St. Louis, and Bush has already begun to campaign for election in 2020.

To many, Bush’s persistence in challenging Clay is puzzling. There are not many politicians who can match Clay’s formidable record in St. Louis. Throughout a political career spanning four decades, Bill Clay, who is most famous as a forceful voice for civil rights and co-founder of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), never lost an election. His son has maintained the family’s undefeated record since inheriting his father’s seat. Bush’s 20-point primary loss in 2018 represents the strongest challenge to Clay’s position years. Previous challengers Russ Carnahan and Maria Chappelle-Nadal were dispatched by more than 30 points in 2012 and 2016 respectively. The Clay legacy carries weight in St. Louis. Decades of holding political office mean that the Congressman is well-positioned to pick up key endorsements. Those years have also seen the development of an extensive fundraising network which allows Clay’s campaigns to vastly outspend any challenger.

In addition to the robust infrastructure underpinning his candidacy, Clay can also point to his relatively progressive record to push back on Bush’s assertions that he is out of touch. He has taken liberal stances on key issues including immigration, gun control, reproductive rights, and criminal justice reform. He is a member of the Medicare for All caucus which advocates for single-payer healthcare, a central policy in the agenda of progressive Democrats like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Bush’s primary challenge seems to have pushed Clay to engage even more with his progressive colleagues. When Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced her Green New Deal legislation, Clay jumped at the opportunity to be a co-sponsor, calling the bill, “transformative, progressive legislation that will make America stronger, safer and healthier for generations to come.” The Riverfront Times noted that this level of environmental activism marked a departure from Clay’s past, recalling that “in 2018, the League of Conservation Voters gave him an 89% rating on its National Environmental Scorecard Lifetime, placing him in the bottom third of congressional Democrats.” Clay has also positioned himself in support of Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, an alliance that could turn into a valuable endorsement, and has already helped raise Clay’s profile outside of St. Louis.

Bush, therefore, faces a multi-faceted challenge. She must raise public awareness of herself to have any hope of competing with the city’s best-known leader. She must differentiate herself, and then convince voters that those differences make her a better representative. During the 2018 race, Bush emphasized her engagement with the district, contrasting her experience with community organizing during the Ferguson protests to Clay’s slow response and reluctance to support Ferguson activists. According to Bush, the lack of strong support for the activists in Ferguson reflects a larger pattern of disengagement from the district. Bush and her supporters accuse Clay of spending more time concerned with advancing his career in Washington than with advocating for the needs of his constituents. This is a crucial distinction for Bush’s supporters. While Clay may take a variety of progressive stances, his critics question how much energy he invests in turning those stances into legislative action. They point to young members of Congress like Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley who have shifted the party’s agenda while engaging millions of voters. A core aspect of Bush’s pitch to voters is that St. Louis has not benefited from its Congressman’s rise through the ranks of the Democratic Party.

[su_pullquote]Bush stepped into political organizing in the aftermath of Ferguson, raising her voice to advocate for the change her community needs but lacks the political representation to bring about.[/su_pullquote]No one can accuse Bush of being out of touch with her district. She grew up in St. Louis and raised her children here while putting herself through nursing school. In addition to working for a community based mental health organization, Bush stepped into political organizing in the aftermath of Ferguson, raising her voice to advocate for the change her community needs but lacks the political representation to bring about. In an interview with Refinery29, Bush pointed to her lived experience as an important qualification: “I’ve worked for minimum wage while trying to raise two children. I’ve lived uninsured for quite a while. So I think having that experience [I] can better speak to the issues and help to build the right bills to actually touch people.”

Highlighting her deep connection to St. Louis and zeal for reforming broken systems of policing and justice among others may not be enough to topple a legendary incumbent. To have a fighting chance, Bush will have to criticize the more checkered aspects of Clay’s political record. She might start is with a puzzling example of Clay legislating on behalf of Wall Street. In 2014, the Huffington Post named Clay as one of a group of lawmakers at the center of a fight within the Congressional Black Caucus about the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform legislation. The controversy arose from that group of lawmakers “pushing for a host of seemingly arcane measures that would undermine Dodd-Frank’s rules on financial derivatives, the complex contracts at the heart of the 2008 meltdown.” This despite Clay’s previous vote in favor of Dodd-Frank, a vote which he continues to cite as evidence of his progressive outlook on financial regulation. At the time, this maneuvering touched of a fight within the CBC reflecting larger tensions within the Democratic party about how to interact with Wall Street. That divergence also colors how campaigns seek funding. Per Vice News, in 2018, Bush rejected corporate donations, while Clay’s campaign committee accepted over $26,000 from commercial banks. Running campaigns independent of corporate money is the most important distinction that progressives draw between themselves and their intra-party rivals.[su_pullquote align=”right”]Per Vice News, in 2018, Bush rejected corporate donations, while Clay’s campaign committee accepted over $26,000 from commercial banks. Running campaigns independent of corporate money is the most important distinction that progressives draw between themselves and their intra-party rivals.[/su_pullquote]

Bush also called for the abolition of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) which was founded in 2003 by then-President George W. Bush and has been responsible for implementing some of the Trump administration’s most horrific immigration policies. Clay has criticized the agency but stopped short of calling for its abolition.

The race between Clay and Bush is just one of many primaries playing out across the nation between established Democrats and progressive challengers eager to remake the party with their community-driven brand of politics. [su_pullquote align=”right”]The race between Clay and Bush is just one of many primaries playing out across the nation between established Democrats and progressive challengers eager to remake the party with their community-driven brand of politics.[/su_pullquote]Senior Democrats like Steny Hoyer (MD-5), Henry Cuellar (TX-28), and Eliot Engel (NY-16) have been put on notice by progressive challenges from newcomers Mckayla Wilkes, Jessica Cisneros, and Jamaal Bowman respectively. Unlike these first time candidates, Bush will benefit from her 2018 run cycle when over 53,000 voters cast their ballots in support of Bush despite Clay’s outspending Bush by nearly five times in the pre-primary reporting period. She has already established connections with national progressive groups like Justice Democrats, Our Revolution, and Brand New Congress along with leaders like Dr. Angela Davis, California Representative Ro Khanna, and Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez. Given the magnitude of the challenge ahead, she will need all of those things, along with a massive grassroots effort. A win in St. Louis would provide a massive boost to the nationwide progressive movement. However, the road there will be difficult and littered with naysayers. Cori Bush is undeterred. Her campaign website proclaims “I am Bully-proof. My desire to see change is greater than any fear of what could happen to me in pursuit of it.”

Rohan Palacios ’21 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. He can be reached at rpalacios@wustl.edu.