Democrat Wesley Bell launches Senate campaign to challenge Josh Hawley: 'We can do better'

St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell announced his Democratic primary campaign for the United States Senate, using the Wednesday morning launch to contrast himself with sitting Republican Sen. Josh Hawley on issues of police brutality and public safety.

A former Ferguson, Missouri, city councilman, Bell centered his work around the 2014 protests in his hometown sparked by the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown at the hands of police.

"When I faced chaos in Ferguson, I worked to calm tensions," Bell said in a statement. “But when Josh Hawley was faced with chaos, he chose to inflame it. Missourians deserve a senator who will work to improve their lives, not a politician who throws bombs.”

Bell was elected in 2018 as St. Louis County prosecuting attorney in a shock upset against a seven-term incumbent. He was part of a wave of progressive prosecutors running in the city − attempting to change the goals of a job previously known for tough-on-crime policies and rhetoric. Wesley was overwhelmingly re-elected last year.

Growing up in North St. Louis County, Bell served as a judge, law professor and public defender before becoming a prosecutor.

In a campaign ad announcing his candidacy to the state, Bell labeled his work in criminal justice "common sense compromise."

"As a prosecutor, I've enforced the law without fear or favor. We started with reforming our criminal justice system, took a tough stand against violent criminals and gave regular people a voice," Bell said in the ad.

In his announcement, Bell cited reforms he oversaw as St. Louis County's top prosecutor, including "the purchase and use of body cameras, and a pay raise for police while reforming the police use-of-force policy and overhauling the municipal court system." As prosecutor he also stopped prosecution of low-level drug crimes and established a unit studying wrongful convictions and allegations of police misconduct.

The ad centers on Bell's time as a meditator between protestors and police during the Ferguson protests. After winning a seat on the Ferguson city council in 2015, he helped implement the city’s consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice after Michael Brown’s death.

"Growing up, I was taught I had a responsibility to make a difference when I could. In Ferguson that meant trying to help calm tensions between police and protesters," he said in the ad.

"For me, it's personal. My dad's spent 25 years as a police officer. Just blocks from my own home, it seemed our entire country was exploding. So I did what came natural to me − I worked to mediate between two sides who seemed literally at war with each other. Ferguson made me realize there was more I could do."

Bell contrasted that record with Hawley, who he described as someone "in a rush to be famous and pretending to be tough while showing the world how weak he really is.”

"We can do better, whether you're Democrat or Republican, from a small town or a big city, Black, brown, Asian or white. As Missourians, and as Americans, we've got a lot more in common than politicians like Josh Hawley say we do."

Democratic primary taking shape

Before he can face Hawley, Bell must defeat fellow Democrat Lucas Kunce in the primary. A Marine Corps veteran, Kunce previously ran for Senate in 2022 but lost to beer heiress Trudy Busch Valentine. She went on to lose to Republican Eric Schmitt by 13 percentage points.

Asked for comment on Bell's candidacy, Kunce focused on his recent endorsement from the AFL-CIO and other progressive groups.

More: Jon Hamm provides voiceover for Senate candidate Lucas Kunce's campaign ad on 'manhood'

"It's a huge day in Missouri for our campaign — the AFL-CIO has endorsed Lucas Kunce for U.S. Senate. This marks an important moment in the campaign as the state's election-winning labor movement unites behind Kunce, a 13-year Marine veteran who has promised to be a warrior for working people in the U.S. Senate," a spokesperson told the News-Leader in a statement.

Only one Missouri Democrat has won a statewide race since 2012. In a statement, National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman Philip Letsou called Bell a "soft-on-crime radical" and "way too far left for Missouri."

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Josh Hawley challenged by Missouri Democrat Wesley Bell in Senate race