Cori Bush

The district and its predecessors have been in Democratic hands for all but 17 months since 1909 and without interruption since 1911.

With a Cook Partisan Voting Index of D+29, it is easily the most Democratic district in Missouri and tied for the 23rd-most Democratic district in the country.

As expected, Bush won the general election handily, defeating Republican Anthony Rogers with 78 percent of the vote.

Soon after being sworn in, Bush joined "The Squad", a group of progressive Democratic lawmakers.

She posted a photo on Twitter of herself, the four original Squad members, and another new member, Bowman, with the caption "Squad up."

On January 6, 2021, hours after rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol in a failed bid to overturn Donald Trump's loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 election, Bush introduced a resolution to remove every Republican who supported attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election from the House of Representatives.

In her support for Trump's second impeachment, Bush called the attack on the Capitol a "white supremacist insurrection" incited by the "white supremacist-in-chief".

In August 2021, Bush took a leading role in fighting to extend the CARES Act's eviction moratorium, sleeping on the steps of the U.S. Capitol to make her point; the CDC extended the moratorium on August 3.

On August 5, 2021, Bush defended spending tens of thousands of dollars on personal security for herself as a member of Congress while also saying Democrats should defund the police, saying, "I get to be here to do the work, so suck it up—and defunding the police has to happen. We need to defund the police."

No Republican has received more than 40% in the district since the late 1940s.

Clay's father, Bill, won the seat in 1968 and was succeeded by his son in 2000.

Cori Anika Bush (born July 21, 1976) is an American politician, nurse, pastor, and Black Lives Matter activist serving as the U.S. representative for MO's 1st congressional district, since 2021.

The district includes all of the city of St. Louis and most of northern St. Louis County.

Bush was born on July 21, 1976, in St. Louis and graduated from Cardinal Ritter College Prep High School in 1994.

Her father, Errol Bush, is an alderman in Northwoods, Missouri, and previously served as mayor.

In the summer of 1994, at 18-years old, Bush became pregnant after being raped and had an abortion.

A year later, she had a second abortion when she was 19-years old.

Bush studied at Harris–Stowe State University for one year (1995–96) and worked at a preschool until 2001.

She earned a Diploma in Nursing from the Lutheran School of Nursing in 2008.

In 2011, Bush established the Kingdom Embassy International Church in St. Louis, Missouri, and served as its pastor until 2014.

She became a political activist during the 2014 Ferguson unrest, during which she worked as a triage nurse and organizer, where she said that she was hit by a police officer.

Bush is a Nonviolence 365 Ambassador with the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change.

Bush was a candidate for the 2016 United States Senate election in Missouri.

In the Democratic primary, she placed a distant second to Secretary of State Jason Kander.

Kander narrowly lost the election to incumbent Republican Roy Blunt.

She previously ran in the Democratic primary for the district in 2018 and the 2016 U.S. Senate election in Missouri.

In 2018, Bush launched a primary campaign against incumbent Democratic representative Lacy Clay in MO's 1st congressional district.

Described as an "insurgent" candidate, Bush was endorsed by Brand New Congress and Justice Democrats.

Her campaign was featured in the Netflix documentary Knock Down the House, alongside those of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Amy Vilela, and Paula Jean Swearengin.

Clay defeated Bush 56.7% to 36.9%.

She was featured in the 2019 Netflix documentary Knock Down the House, which covered her first primary challenge to Clay.

Bush is a member of The Squad in the House of Representatives.

A member of the Democratic Party, on August 4, 2020, Bush defeated 10-term incumbent Lacy Clay in a 2020 U.S. House of Representatives primary election largely viewed as a historic upset, advancing to the November general election in a solidly Democratic congressional district.

Bush is the first African-American woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri.

In 2020, Bush ran against Clay again.

She was endorsed by progressive organizations, including Justice Democrats, Sunrise Movement, and Brand New Congress, and she received personal endorsements from Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, NY-16 Democratic nominee Jamaal Bowman, former Ohio state Senator Nina Turner, activist Angela Davis, and West Virginia Democratic Senate nominee Paula Jean Swearengin.

Bush narrowly defeated Clay in the primary election in what was widely seen as an upset.

Bush received 48.5% of the vote, winning St. Louis City and narrowly losing suburban St. Louis County.

Her primary victory was considered tantamount to election in the heavily Democratic district.

Her primary win ended the Clay family's 52-year hold on the district.