Bern Back: Cori Bush Defeats William Lacy Clay!

Cori Bush beats Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO) in a primary upset.

In a stunning upset in the Missouri Democratic primary, former nurse Cori Bush defeats longtime lawmaker Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO).

Bush, a progressive activist and veteran of the racial justice protest movement defeated the 20-year incumbent.

Born and raised in St. Louis, Bush ran for the U.S. Senate election in Missouri. In the Democratic primary, she placed second to Jason Kander.

Kander lost his election to Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO).

In 2018, Bush launched a primary challenge against incumbent for the Missouri's 1st Congressional District. Described as an "insurgent" candidate, Bush was endorsed by the leftist Justice Democrats and Brand New Congress. She was defeated by Clay in the first round.

Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO) goes down hard.

It seems like the tide turned this primary.

The 10-term Clay was defending a seat that's been represented by his family for more than half a century. The incumbent succeeded his father -- the late William Lacy Clay, Sr., who held the St. Louis-area seat for more than 30 years and was one of the founders of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Bush had ran again and had the backing of the same entities. With tensions rising between people of color and law enforcement, Bush saw an opportunity to break through the wall.

It was stunning blow to the establishment Democrats.

"They counted us out," Bush said in her Tuesday win. "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.

The activist gets the best of the lawmaker.

Bush's 49% over Clay's 45% is a another win for the Justice Democrats, a coalition of progressive candidates who had successes with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and others.

Bush along with Jamaal Bowman have beaten longtime Democratic lawmakers.

Bowman had defeated Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) handily.

Bush had the backing of the Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Ocasio-Cortez and Bowman.

The 44-year old gained momentum as the primary neared. She got involved in politics after the Michael Brown tragedy. She was one of the Justice Democrats earliest backed candidates.

Bush will likely win the general election given that the Missouri's 1st Congressional District favors Democrats by 38 points.