ST. LOUIS _ Cori Bush's historic victory in unseating U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay and toppling a 52-year political dynasty in Missouri may have been the result of a "perfect storm," St. Louis University political analyst Ken Warren says.
A registered nurse who jumped into politics after the 2014 police killing of Michael Brown, Bush's campaign was primed by the racial inequities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the protests after the police killing of George Floyd.
As a Black, working-class mother of two who has been active in protests in recent years, Bush could easily relate to constituents in the majority Black, overwhelmingly Democratic district.