3 big takeaways from Tuesday’s primaries: An incumbent loss, Trump’s endorsement power and more

Another incumbent bit the dust on Tuesday.

Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) became the fourth member of Congress — and the second member of the progressive Squad — to lose a primary election this year. Her race drew millions of dollars in spending, largely driven by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which has targeted candidates it doesn’t deem as sufficiently pro-Israel.

Bush, like the other two incumbents who have fallen to challengers this cycle, had made key missteps that left them in political peril before the onslaught of outside spending arrived.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, other vulnerable incumbents managed to hang on. And the latest slate of battleground races is now set.

Here are some takeaways from Tuesday’s primaries:

Money matters, but Bush’s vulnerabilities opened the door

Bush was already a vulnerable incumbent even before AIPAC’s super PAC started spending against her. Personal scandal involving a federal investigation into her campaign spending on security services and her alienation of some labor allies with her vote against the infrastructure package had weakened her position.

But the deluge of outside spending and St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell’s strong candidacy made the race even more competitive. Although the Israel-Hamas war had barely factored into their campaign messaging, Bush’s strident criticism of the Israeli government prompted the United Democracy Project to spend over $8 million against her, helping to make this primary the second-costliest in House history.