Rep. Cori Bush loses her Democratic primary election, and educational issues are set to attract voters in November.

Harris and Vance cross paths on airport tarmac campaigning in Midwest

Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz spent their first full day as running mates on Wednesday rallying Democrats across the Midwest, but also got an idea of just how hotly contested the region will be when they overlapped on a Wisconsin tarmac with Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance.

The Democrats' trip began in Wisconsin before shifting to Michigan and was aimed at shoring up support among the younger, diverse, labor-friendly voters who were instrumental in helping President Joe Biden win the 2020 election. That coalition showed signs of fraying over the summer, particularly in Michigan, which has emerged as a focal point of Democratic divisions over Biden's handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

With Biden now out of the race and Harris officially the Democratic nominee, leaders of the Arab American community and key unions say they are encouraged by the running mate choice. Walz's addition to the ticket has soothed some tensions, signaling to some community leaders that Harris heard concerns about another leading contender for the vice presidential slot, Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, who they felt had gone too far in his support for Israel.

"The party is recognizing that there's a coalition they have to rebuild," said Abdullah Hammoud, the mayor of Dearborn, Mich. "Picking Walz is another sign of good faith."

Former President Donald Trump had put a similar emphasis on appealing to voters in Midwestern states with his choice of Vance, an Ohio Republican senator, as his vice presidential pick. Vance was even bracketing the Harris-Walz ticket with appearances in the same states on Wednesday.

The dueling schedules meant that while Harris was still greeting a group of Girl Scouts who came to see her at Chippewa Valley Regional Airport in Wisconsin, Vance's campaign plane was taxiing in the distance.

Harris posed for a group picture with the girls around the same time Vance was deplaning and he began walking over to Air Force Two, trailed by his security detail.

The vice president eventually climbed into her motorcade, and it pulled away before she could interact with Vance. The senator also never crossed the motorcade vehicles lined up near Harris' plane to get close to Air Force Two or Harris.

Still, that the pair came so close to doing so on a tarmac was unusual given the carefully scripted nature of campaign schedules.

"I just wanted to check out my future plane," Vance later told reporters, meaning that he would travel on Air Force Two should he and Trump be elected in November.

Vance used the stunt to jab Harris for not having conducted an extended interview or full press conference since she began her campaign July 21 after President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid.

“I also wanted to go say hello to the vice president and ask her why Kamala Harris refuses, why does she refuse to answer questions from the media,” Vance said. “I don’t think the vice president waved at me as she drove away.”

Wesley Bell defeats 'Squad' member Cori Bush. A pro-Israel group spent $8.5 million to help oust her

St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell has defeated U.S. Rep. Cori Bush in a Democratic primary in St. Louis, marking the second time this year that one of the party's incumbents has been ousted in an expensive contest that reflected deep divisions over the war in Gaza.

Bush, a member of the progressive congressional group known as the "Squad," was seeking a third term in Missouri's 1st Congressional District, which includes St. Louis city and part of St. Louis County. Bell is heavily favored to carry the overwhelmingly Democratic district in November, when his party is aiming to retake control of the U.S. House.

Bell's campaign received a big boost from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, whose super political action committee, United Democracy Project, spent $8.5 million to oust Bush. She was targeted after repeated criticism of Israel's response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.

It was a game plan that worked earlier this year in New York. In June, United Democracy Project spent $15 million to defeat another Squad member — U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman. Bowman lost to George Latimer, a pro-Israel centrist.

In October, Bush called the Israeli retaliation an "ethnic cleansing campaign." Soon after the Hamas attack, Bush wrote on social media that Israel's "collective punishment against Palestinians for Hamas's actions is a war crime."

Her comments prompted backlash, even among some supporters in her district. Bell, who had been planning a Senate run against incumbent Republican Josh Hawley, instead opted to challenge Bush. He told The Associated Press last month that Bush's comments about Israel were "wrong and offensive."

Bush responded by saying that the donors behind AIPAC support former President Donald Trump and other Republicans.

"This is only the beginning," Bush told the AP. "Because if they can unseat me, then they're going to continue to come after more Democrats."

Bush and Bell both honed their leadership skills in Ferguson, Mo., in the unrest that followed Michael Brown's death at the hands of a police officer in 2014. Friday marks the 10th anniversary of Brown's death.

School book bans subside, but the move to make those books available continue

As Florida heads further into the election cycle, some voters may be considering how leaders and candidates handle matters of education. One of those matters, book challenges, became a heated political topic just a few years ago.

Those challenges have largely subsided, but efforts to push back on them continue.

A love for reading is something Erin Decker and Tonia Galinanes can both trace back to their childhood.

“I started reading by myself at a very young age," Decker said. "My mom always joked I would figure out a way to make money with books."

So, as librarians, they both wanted to make sure children had access to a wide variety of books.

When some books from their school libraries were challenged, and then removed, they felt their mission as educators was compromised.

“When I saw that books were being taken away from them — I literally had to take them away from students — that hurt,” Decker said.

Decker and Galinanes eventually both decided to leave their jobs at Osceola County Schools, and open their own bookstore in downtown Kissimmee.

Galinanes had planned to retire from the school district, but she says the stress of book bans was too much.

“My eye was twitching, just because I wasn’t sleeping,” she said.

Their store, White Rose Books and More, stocks some of their shelves with books no longer in public schools, highlighted with caution tape.

“It’s kind of a play on the whole banned book thing, like, ‘Caution, you shouldn’t read these books,' but we believe every book should be read,” Decker said.

She said it was important to make sure that, even if the books aren't available in a school, they're available somewhere.

“In the meantime all these books have already been banned, they’re not going to be available in school," Decker said. "So we need to make sure they’re available in other spaces for people who need them or want them."

She said she plans to support candidates who won’t push laws she believes restrict what educational materials young people have access to.

“Are they going to defend all aspects of freedom of speech?" she said. "And that includes access to literature and books, but it also includes other aspects of freedom to speech and allowing people to share their stories in whatever manner they can."