A town hall organized by Rep. Wesley Bell (D-MO) last week in St. Louis turned contentious as a large group of demonstrators turned out to heckle the freshman congressman — fresh off a trip to Israel — over his support for the Jewish state. A scuffle later broke out between security guards and some of the demonstrators.

The situation highlights the ongoing antagonism from local far-left activists against Bell, which could foreshadow a primary challenge to the congressman from former Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), whom Bell unseated, or one of her political allies.

Bell, during the 90-minute town hall, pushed back on accusations from demonstrators that Israel is committing genocide, emphasizing that “Israel was attacked by an openly genocidal terrorist group,” while calling for Hamas’ defeat, the release of hostages, the end of the war and ensuring food aid in Gaza.

Demonstrators shouted as Bell sought to address the crowd, disrupting the event repeatedly and accusing Bell of supporting the killing of children, among a variety of other offenses. Some Bell supporters in the audience — whom local reports described as about half of the crowd — also at times exchanged heated words with the congressman’s critics.

“There’s a lot of folks who don’t want to have the conversation,” Bell said during the event. “They just want to spew what they think is important, but they don’t want to have an actual debate because these are tough issues. So, now we’re going to have the conversation — whether you like it or not.”

Bell told local news channel KSDK that he had expected even more disruptions and that he was willing to meet with critics.

“Congressman Bell came prepared to answer questions, including tough ones, about the issues on the minds of his constituents — from standing up to Trump to helping tornado victims rebuild,” a Bell spokesperson told Jewish Insider. “Even with the disruptions, he made sure to respond to as many questions as possible, and he’s continuing to follow up with those he didn’t reach. That’s the work he’s committed to doing every day.”

Braxton Payne, a St. Louis-based Democratic strategist, told JI he recognized some of the individuals involved in the demonstrations as longtime backers of Bush. He said that the political coalitions supporting and opposing Bell in 2024 have remained largely unchanged since Bell took office.

“You’re still seeing the same bases, cohorts of support” as in the 2024 race, Payne said. “I do think there is a sentiment for someone to run against [Bell] in a primary” with support from the “de-facto Cori Bush base.”

He predicted that the 2026 primary election will see higher-than-average turnout among suburban St. Louis County voters — a development likely to help Bell, who in 2024 won St. Louis County but not the city of St. Louis — given other open seats likely to be on the ballot.

Payne said that a mid-decade redistricting effort by Missouri Republicans is expected to largely leave St. Louis-area congressional seats untouched, if it succeeds. But if the redraw brings more of St. Louis County into Bell’s district, that would also likely help boost his support base.

Bush has publicly kept open the possibility of another run for Congress, saying in June that she wouldn’t provide a timeline for when she would decide whether to run again. Bush recently founded a national PAC, Politivist Action.

Payne said that Bush’s husband’s legal troubles — he was charged with defrauding federal pandemic relief programs — could play into her decision on whether to run again. He added that she has been less present at local political events since leaving office than she was before she became a member of Congress.

Bush did not respond to a request for comment about her plans.

Asked by KSDK about the possibility of a rematch with Bush, Bell said that he wouldn’t address the hypothetical question, but that he is working to support and represent his district daily.

Megan Green, the president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, is also rumored to be interested in the seat, local observers said, but said in an email to JI that she is “not running.” Green is a Bush ally who recently accused Israel of genocide and has claimed that AIPAC exercises malicious influence over the Democratic Party.

Bell’s campaign appears to be gearing up early for the possibility of a competitive primary — he has raised nearly $700,000 thus far this cycle.

Stacey Newman, the executive director of the Missouri Alliance Network and a former Democratic state lawmaker who led Jewish outreach for Bell’s 2024 campaign, told JI that Bell’s supporters in the Jewish community expect that the congressman will face a primary challenge, but that it’s not entirely clear yet from whom.

Newman said that, given some of the names floated as potential challengers to Bell, the race would likely rehash the same issues of the 2024 campaign, which included a heavy focus on Israel policy.

Newman said that the unruly town hall had further contributed to unease and fear in the St. Louis-area Jewish community about the community’s safety, in the wake of the firebombing of cars in a residential neighborhood targeting a Jewish family whose son served in the IDF. No suspects have been announced or arrested in the case, which is being investigated as an antisemitic hate crime, and local Jewish groups are offering a $30,000 reward.

The events at the town hall follow a series of other aggressive anti-Israel demonstrations in the area, she noted.

“The Jewish community is on edge in terms of our safety,” Newman said.