U.S. Rep. Cori Bush confirmed last week she will run for a second term representing Missouri’s 1st Congressional District.
“My mission is to do the very most for the people of St. Louis, starting with those who have the very least.” —U.S. Rep. Cori Bush
“I’m excited to be celebrating our re-election campaign because Congress should have people who come from our communities, who have actually lived our struggles, who have marched in our streets,” Bush said in a prepared statement. “My mission is to do the very most for the people of St. Louis, starting with those who have the very least. We have already achieved so much in less than a year, and I know that together, not even the sky is our limit.”
The St. Louis Democrat, who shook up the political landscape when she defeated longtime incumbent William Lacy Clay in 2020, released a video titled “Not Even The Sky Is Our Limit,” announcing her run for reelection and reflecting on her time in Congress.
She spoke about the hundreds of millions of dollars St. Louis will receive in federal COVID-19 relief funding, forcing the EPA to clean up the radioactive waste in Cold Water Creek, passing the People’s Response Act and the Green New Deal.
“When I see someone suffering, it doesn’t feel like a choice to me,” she said in the video. “It’s what I have to do.”
This came on the heels of another announcement, utility executive Andrew Jones Jr.’s intent to run for the seat as a Republican candidate.
Jones ran earlier this year as the only Republican in the St. Louis mayoral primary. Still, he did not run in the general election because under the city’s new primary election rules, the two candidates, regardless of party affiliation, with the most votes face off in the general election.
He received an endorsement from the St. Louis Police Officers Association (SLPOA) during his mayoral campaign.
Jones also ran unsuccessfully for St. Louis mayor in April 2017 as the Republican candidate, coming in second to former Mayor Lyda Krewson with 17.3% of the vote.
“It’s time for a change in the first district,” Jones said in a prepared statement. “Our families are struggling under the weight of inflation and out-of-control prices. There is a growing crime epidemic in our communities, and our children are suffering under a chronic underperforming education system. We don’t need a socialist ideologue that divides people based upon income, race and background. What we need is common sense representation that will put the interest of St. Louis and St. Louis County first; that is why I am running for Congress to provide real answers for real challenges.”
A third candidate also is vying for Missouri’s 1st Congressional District House seat, Earl Childress II.
According to his website, Childress is an ordained pastor, economic rights leader and financial activist. He describes himself as a moderate and lists several stances on hot-topic issues: he supports strong unions, “educated” reproduction options, community-owned assets, gun rights, and police refinement, an ideology that calls for permanently removing bad actors from police departments.
“After taking a soft poll, the Childress For Congress campaign discovered that majority of Missouri’s first congressional district held moderate views, values and beliefs,” his website states. “The preliminary poll of ten thousand registered voters revealed that they don’t agree with the incumbent’s agenda but feel there aren’t better political options.”
Between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30, Bush raised $946,317 for her 2022 campaign, according to federal records, while Jones raised $,1995 between July 1 and Sept. 30.
Financial records for Childress were not available.
The district’s primary election will be held Aug. 2, and the general election will be held Nov. 8. Candidates have until March 29 to file.
