Wesley Bell defeated Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) on Tuesday in a closely watched primary, becoming the second Democratic challenger of the cycle to unseat a Squad-aligned incumbent.

Bell, the prosecuting attorney for St. Louis County, prevailed over Bush, a two-term congresswoman, in an upset that followed Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s (D-NY) loss to Westchester County Executive George Latimer in June. 

Bell won the race by a comfortable five-point margin over Bush, 51-46%.

“I am deeply honored and humbled by the trust the people of this district have placed in me,” Bell said in a statement. “This victory belongs to every volunteer, every supporter, and every voter who believes in our vision for a better future.”

Pro-Israel groups invested heavily in the race to boost Bell’s campaign against Bush, whose hostile views toward Israel faced backlash in the district. 

The super PAC affiliated with AIPAC, United Democracy Project, was by far the biggest spender, dropping more than $8.5 million into a race that became one of the most expensive elections of the cycle.

“AIPAC congratulates Wesley Bell for his consequential victory over an incumbent anti-Israel detractor,” the group said in a statement. “Once again, a progressive pro-Israel Democrat has prevailed over a candidate who represents the extremist fringe that is hostile to the Jewish state.”

UDP added in a statement that, “Bell’s win tonight, along with George Latimer’s (D) victory over Rep. Jamaal Bowman and John McGuire’s (R) defeat of Rep. Bob Good, is further proof that being pro-Israel is good policy and good politics on both sides of the aisle.”

Mark Mellman, the chairman of Democratic Majority for Israel, which also endorsed Bell, said the results underscored that “being pro-Israel is not just wise policy, but also smart politics.”

“And there’s another valuable lesson in these results — Democrats do not want division or extremism,” Mellman added in a statement.

The local Jewish community was also engaged in the primary, including grassroots efforts to increase voter turnout. Nearly 50% of the district’s Orthodox community, for instance, voted early in the election, according to A.D. Motzen, the national director of government affairs at Agudath Israel of America.

“Just from what I saw during early voting and today, the amount of Jewish voter turnout was incredible,” said Rabbi Jeffrey Abraham of Congregation B’nai Amoona, a Conservative synagogue in the St. Louis area, who supported Bell. “The rallying that took place is like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”

“It feels amazing on many levels,” Abraham added, of Bell’s victory. “Most importantly we now have someone representing us who is willing to sit down and listen to us and have a meaningful dialogue on the issues. We also were able to get a blatant antisemite out of Congress.”

Additional reporting contributed by JI’s senior congressional correspondent Marc Rod