St. Louis deserves a leader who is built different.

I’m running to represent Missouri’s 1st Congressional District.

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In St. Louis, costs keep going up. Too many families can’t afford rent or groceries. Our government has turned its back on us. Looming over it all is relentless attacks from Trump and his billionaire allies.

Missouri’s 1st Congressional District feels the impact of failed leadership every single day. We deserve a representative who shows up when it’s hardest and fights for us. That’s who I’ve always been: ten toes down for St. Louis.

This campaign is about ensuring everybody in St. Louis can survive and thrive. It’s about lowering costs, protecting our people, and making life better for our loved ones. St. Louis is built for this fight. So am I.

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I’m Cori Bush, a wife, mother, pastor, and former nurse running to represent the people of Missouri’s 1st Congressional District.

I’ve faced the struggles that many people in St. Louis experience. I know what it’s like to face the impossible choice of paying bills or putting food on the table.

Here in St. Louis, families are being squeezed from every side. Groceries, rent, housing costs, insurance costs and utility bills keep climbing while wages stay flat. Jobs are vanishing. Our freedoms are under constant attack. And while our families struggle, the rich keep getting richer.

Even so, St. Louis never breaks. St. Louis is built different. When government turns its back on us, we take care of each other. When crisis hits, our community rises. That’s why St. Louis deserves leadership that is also built different.

We need a fighter who answers to the people, not billionaires that have rigged the rules in their favor. We need a representative that leads with courage, not bought-off politicians who wait for permission.

That’s why I fight for Medicare for All, expanding Social Security, and treating utilities such as water and electricity as a basic right. No family should have to choose between dinner and keeping the lights on.

I wrote groundbreaking public safety legislation and delivered millions in violence prevention funds for St. Louis. When floods hit, I secured disaster relief so our communities could rebuild. I took on Big Pharma and introduced a bill to cap the cost of insulin at $20 a vial to save families thousands of dollars in life-saving medical care.

Even after my time in Congress, I never stopped showing up. After the tornado ripped through St. Louis, I was on the ground helping our neighbors. When Trump and his allies tried to strip away our power, I stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Missouri Democrats to make sure our voices were heard. I’ve never been afraid to hold power to account, and I will never back down.

In 2026, Missouri’s 1st District has the chance to have a fighter in Congress with a plan to address lower costs and has proven to be relentless in fighting to make life better and costs lower for everybody in St. Louis. I am that fighter.

This has always been about my community – because St. Louis built me, brick by brick. Just as St. Louis is built for this fight, so am I.

MY PRIORITIES

The system works for the wealthy, but doesn’t work for everybody else. As the Congresswoman representing Missouri’s First, I will fight everyday to get what you need to survive and thrive.

Here’s what I’ll be fighting for as the representative for Missouri’s 1st Congressional District:

Lower costs & expand opportunities.

invest in public health & build safer communities.

Defend democracy & fight fascism.

STAND FOR JUSTICE IN PALESTINE.

PROTECT REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM.

PRIORITY

Lower costs and expand opportunities.

The costs of housing, groceries, health care, utility bills, and other everyday expenses keep climbing while wages stay the same. Good jobs are vanishing. Our families are being priced out of their community. Too many people remain unhoused or are struggling to put food on the table. And while we struggle, the rich get richer.

We need homes that regular people can afford. We need wages that rise with the cost of living. We need Medicare for All, healthy food in every neighborhood, and more good union jobs for workers of every skillset.

In Congress, I led the fight for Medicare For All because I know the stakes.

I worked as a nurse for many years. I’ve seen patients ration medicine or skip treatment because they couldn’t afford it. I’ve seen people die because profits came before their lives. I also know what it’s like to be uninsured. When I caught COVID while running for office in 2020, I had no health insurance. Health care is a human right. When I was having trouble breathing, a friend was inclined to call 911 for an ambulance to transport me to the hospital, but I begged her not to because I knew I couldn’t afford it. No one should ever choose between their life and their bank account.

In the richest country in the world, no one should struggle to afford housing.

St. Louis needs more homes that regular families can afford. In Congress, I’ll keep bringing resources home to make that happen. I’ll also keep fighting for the Unhoused Bill of Rights, a plan to end the housing crisis by building more homes, providing universal vouchers, and expanding funding for shelters, social services, and permanent emergency rental assistance.

St. Louis doesn’t need leaders who just talk. We need leaders who deliver resources immediately.

That’s what I did. I secured $750,000 for renovations to Dunbar Gardens in Kinloch. $1.7 million to redevelop Clinton-Peabody Housing Project; $850,000 for homeless prevention in North County; $500,000 for the Easterseals Workforce Training Center; $2.4 million for Covenant House Missouri’s Center for Economic Advancement.

Building a community that works for all of us means standing with labor.

I’ve always been a strong supporter of unions. That’s why I brought home $1 million for the UAW Labor Employment and Training Corporation to train St. Louisans for good jobs. And that’s why I’ll keep being a steadfast supporter of labor in Congress.

Nearly 45,000 people in St. Louis live more than a mile from a pharmacy. Most of them are Black.

So when Walgreens closed a North City store, I took action. I sent a letter, raised the issue in the press, and questioned the CEO in a congressional hearing. That work was cut short. But trust, I’ll be right back at it. St. Louis needs a fierce advocate, on issues big and small.

In St. Louis, we pay more for utilities than most of America. I know what it feels like to have your power cut or your heat turned off.

No one should have to choose between keeping the lights on and feeding their family. I brought home nearly $1 million to expand public wifi in St. Louis public housing. When the Secretary of Energy visited in 2023, I showed her a home in Walnut Park West where a new heat pump cut energy bills. I’ll always fight for immediate fixes — but I’ll never lose sight of the bigger problem. That’s why I introduced the Utilities as a Human Right Resolution. It affirms that water, electricity, heating, cooling, broadband, and transit are basic human rights. I introduced the Public Power Resolution in Congress to transform utilities in America from a for-profit, dirty entity to a public good meeting our needs and running on clean, renewable energy.

PRIORITY

Invest in public health and build safer communities.

Safety is a public health emergency. Every person deserves to feel safe in our St. Louis community. But today, that’s not our reality. Our system punishes instead of helping. We need care, not criminalization. We deserve safety that promotes health and well-being for everyone. We can get there with health-centered and community-driven solutions.

We must dismantle white supremacy in all its forms, including in our justice system, and build systems of care and compassion. As your Congresswoman, I will continue pushing to transform public safety, end the war on drugs, address the gun violence epidemic, and protect survivors of violence.

In Congress, I helped write the People’s Response Act.

It would create a new public safety division inside the Department of Health and Human Services. We desperately need safety built around inclusive community needs and public health — not politics as usual. I’ll work to advance this legislation and its values for our communities in St. Louis.

I secured $3 million for the Bullet Related Injury Clinic in St. Louis.

They provide free care for gunshot survivors, including pain management, wound care, and trauma recovery for mental well-being. Trump is now trying to gut their funding – I’ll fight to restore and expand it.

I know the crisis of gun violence and domestic violence because I’ve lived it.

I’ve also listened to neighbors who carry that trauma every day. I hosted town halls on gun violence and domestic violence so the experiences of St. Louis could inform the policy I pursued in Congress. I will continue to lead with you.

I helped pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act — the first major gun violence bill in decades.

That law finally closed the “Boyfriend Loophole,” which let people convicted of domestic violence keep their guns if they weren’t married or living with their partners. It was a step forward. But we have so much more work to do to stop the crisis of gun violence. I will continue to be at the forefront of this fight. In Congress, I’ll work on more legislation to curb the flow of guns into our communities and address the root causes of violence. I’ll continue bringing home money to St. Louis to combat and respond to gun violence, and I’ll always be on the ground in our communities responding directly to the heartbreak in our neighborhoods’ fabric that bullets pierce.

For too long, safety has meant prisons, punishment, and surveillance. It’s a system that has been failing Black and Brown communities.

The United States is the world leader in incarceration. Police here kill at far higher rates than in other wealthy nations, and we feel it here every day. In St. Louis, police have led the nation in civilian killings for nearly a decade — including the killing of Michael Brown in 2014. I co-wrote the Helping Families Heal Act in Congress with Lezley McSpadden, the mother of Michael Brown, to set aside $100 million for community and school-based programs to help people who have experienced, witnessed, or been in proximity to police violence get mental health help. I’ll take up the mantle of justice once more in Washington.

In Congress, I made transforming our public safety system a top priority.

I was appointed to the powerful House Judiciary Committee, named Vice Chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, and served as a member on the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.

The legacy of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade lives on today. That’s why I introduced the first resolution in Congress to set a baseline on reparations for descendants of enslaved people.

The resolution makes clear that the federal government has a moral and legal duty to repair the harm from slavery and Jim Crow to the War on Drugs, mass incarceration, lynchings, and race massacres. It calls for a holistic approach to repair for descendants, including restitution, rehabilitation, and justice. Here in St. Louis, segregation still divides us. With a significant racial wealth gap, the Delmar Divide means children on one side grow up with opportunity, while children on the other side grow up struggling. Reparations are a key step toward a more just St. Louis.

PRIORITY

Defend democracy and fight fascism.

Our nation faces relentless attacks from Trump and his billionaire allies. This isn’t politics as usual. It’s about survival for our families. We are in the fight of our lives. We need leaders who prove what’s possible when you fight for everyone. St. Louis and our country need a fighter.

On my third day in Congress, a white supremacist mob stormed the Capitol to overturn the results of the presidential election. I didn’t just express outrage at the insurrection. I took action.

While barricaded in my office with my staff, I introduced a resolution to investigate and expel Republican members of Congress who helped incite the mob.

Trump and his allies in Jefferson City are trying to erode our voting power.

When State Representatives staged a sit-in, I used my connections to make sure they had the platform, resources, and support they needed. I’ll keep leading the fight for democracy in Missouri.

In Congress, I stood up to MAGA Republicans trying to tear down our democracy and silence our votes. But I didn’t stop at opposition; I fought to expand our rights.

I proudly voted for the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, and I’ll keep pushing for the Inclusive Democracy Act and the IDs for an Inclusive Democracy Act to make sure every American has what they need to cast their ballot and that no one loses their voice because of the legal system.

We need a representative free from Big Pharma who will fight to lower prescription drug costs.

Senator Bernie Sanders and I pressured Eli Lilly to cut insulin prices, and we won. I introduced a bill to cap insulin at $20 a vial. I’ll finish that fight in Congress and go further by supporting Medicare drug negotiations, cracking down on price gouging, and breaking up monopolies.

I served as Ranking Member on the Oversight Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs.

There, I sounded the alarm about white supremacist attacks of energy terrorism on our power grid. The FERC listened and took action. But today’s administration isn’t treating far-right terrorism seriously. I’ll make sure these threats are not swept under the rug, because St. Louis deserves to be safe from those who seek to harm us.

PRIORITY

Stand for Justice in Palestine.

Every person deserves to live in safety and dignity. That is why I have stood, and will always stand, in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

What is happening in Gaza is genocide. It is carried out by the Israeli government, and it is backed by U.S. weapons and U.S. dollars.

This is not who St. Louis is, and it is not who I am. Our struggles are connected. When I was in Ferguson demanding justice for Michael Brown, it was Palestinian organizers who stood with us, who showed us how to withstand tear gas and face the violence of the state. That solidarity changed me then, and it drives me now.

In Congress, I introduced and led the #CeasefireNOW resolution

In Congress, I introduced and led the #CeasefireNOW resolution when it was clear Netanyahu’s plan for Gaza meant mass death.

I spoke up when others turned away.

I listened to our Palestinian-American neighbors here in St. Louis who were grieving as their families were killed by bombs funded with our tax dollars.

We must work to stop the flow of weapons from the US to the Israeli government

We must work to stop the flow of weapons from the US to the Israeli government, and we must withdraw our consent for genocide.

I will continue speaking out against the occupation in all its forms

I will continue speaking out against the occupation in all its forms and demand an end to the seizure of Palestinian land in the West Bank.

I stand firm in the truth that human rights do not stop at the border of Palestine.

Across faiths, beliefs, backgrounds, and identities, we are one St. Louis.

Together, when we rise and speak with one voice for justice, we can move mountains. That is our role in this moment for Palestine. And it is the mantle I will take up once again in Washington as your representative.

PRIORITY

Protect Reproductive Freedom.

Across the nation, reproductive rights are under attack. Mere minutes after a far-right Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, Missouri became the first state to ban abortion outright. Make no mistake: this is not just an assault on our bodily autonomy — this is class warfare and white supremacy at work too. Black women and people with low-incomes will be disproportionately harmed by this ruling, and people will lose their lives as a result of this disastrous decision by the Supreme Court.

This is a moment of crisis, and it’s on all of us to act, because we are powerful beyond belief.

We are not powerless, and we will not stop until abortion care is legal everywhere. Together, we will build the future we deserve.

For me, this is personal.

I’ve talked before about how and why I chose to terminate my pregnancy after I was sexually assaulted in 1994. That decision was the hardest one I’ve ever made, but it was right for me, and it altered the course of my life. I can’t describe the rage I feel now when I think that today’s Supreme Court would have tried to force me to carry my rapist’s child.