37 Facts About Cori Bush

Cori Anika Bush was born on July 21,1976 and is an American politician, nurse, pastor, and Black Lives Matter activist who served as the US representative for from 2021 to 2025.

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

Cori Bush ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for the district in 2018 and the 2016 US Senate election in Missouri.

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

Cori Bush is a member of the group known as "the Squad" in the US House.

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

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

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

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

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

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

In 2018, Cori Bush launched a primary campaign against incumbent Democratic representative Lacy Clay in.

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

Cori Bush 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.

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

Cori Bush was challenged by Steve Roberts, state senator, who received support from previous representative Lacy Clay.

The primary was the second most-expensive House primary in history, with $9 million in spending against Cori Bush from United Democracy Project, AIPAC's super PAC.

Cori Bush was the second member of the Squad defeated in a Democratic primary in 2024 following George Latimer's defeat of Jamaal Bowman.

On January 6,2021, hours after rioters stormed the US Capitol in a failed bid to overturn Donald Trump's loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 election, Cori 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 2022, Cori Bush secured $750,000 in Community Project Funding for expansions to the Urban League facilities in North St Louis, as well as funding for other area service organizations.

Cori Bush was among the 46 Democrats who voted against final passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 in the House.

On January 30,2024, Cori Bush confirmed reports that she was under investigation by the US Department of Justice and Federal Election Commission for alleged misuse of federal security money.

Cori Bush claimed the Office of Congressional Ethics had previously investigated the same allegations and voted unanimously to dismiss the case after finding no evidence of wrongdoing.

In September 2021, Cori Bush was one of eight Democrats to vote against the funding of Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system.

On October 16,2023, Cori Bush introduced a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza war.

Cori Bush condemned Israel's bombing of the Gaza Strip that killed thousands of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

Cori Bush threatened to withhold her vote for the budget if FTA funds were not included.

Cori Bush is a progressive Democrat, supporting policies such as defunding the police; criminal justice and police reform; abortion rights; Medicare for All; a $15 minimum wage; tuition-free state college and trade school; and canceling student debt.

Cori Bush was endorsed by, and is a member of, the Democratic Socialists of America.

Cori Bush advocated defunding the United States Armed Forces during her campaign.

Greene accused Cori Bush of calling for violence against a couple involved in the controversial July 2020 march through a gated St Louis street.

Cori Bush has two children and has been married twice.

At the time, Cori Bush had lost income because illness during her second pregnancy made it necessary for her to quit her job at a preschool.

In February 2023, Cori Bush married Cortney Merritts, a security specialist and US Army veteran.

Cori Bush's husband was charged with two counts of wire fraud for allegedly accepting $20,000 in payments from the COVID era Paycheck Protection Program, falsifying details about his purported businesses to obtain loans from the Small Business Administration in both 2020 and 2021.

In May 2021, Cori Bush testified to the House Oversight and Reform Committee that during her first pregnancy, she informed her doctor of severe pain but was ignored, and as a result, went into pre-term labor.

Cori Bush attributed this to "harsh and racist treatment" that Black women face during pregnancy and childbirth.