[CAPTURE PORTAL] 119TH CONGRESS

// Legislative Integrity Monitor

Goblin House Intelligence

Wesley Bell

Democratic · Representative, MO ·1

Score Components

19 MODERATE

Connection Density 20%

0 → 0

Donor Influence 10%

0 → 0

Silence Risk 25%

20 → 5

Contradiction Risk 25%

36 → 9

Intelligence Volume 10%

49 → 5

Constituency Deviation 5%

0 → 0

Voting Misalignment 5%

0 → 0

% = weight in composite score · Raw component 0–100 × weight = weighted contribution (→) · Sum of contributions = overall score. Hover a row for details.

[constituency_baseline] Demographic anchor: Homeownership Rate: 53.9%

secondary

[constituency_baseline] Demographic anchor: Cook Partisan Voting Index: D+29

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[constituency_baseline] Demographic anchor: Racial/Ethnic Composition: 46.1% Black, 40.4% White (Non-Hispanic), 4.5% Hispanic, 3.8% Asian

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[constituency_baseline] Demographic anchor: Population (2024 ACS): 752,720

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[constituency_baseline] Demographic anchor: Poverty Rate: 17.0% (2024)

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[constituency_baseline] Demographic anchor: Median Household Income: $60,692 (2024)

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[constituency_baseline] Ballot measure: Missouri Amendment 7 — Prohibit Ranked-Choice Voting and Noncitizen Voting (2024) — passed, margin 68.4% Yes to 31.6% No (statewide)

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[constituency_baseline] Ballot measure: Missouri Amendment 3 — Right to Reproductive Freedom (Abortion) (2024) — passed, margin 51.6% Yes to 48.4% No (statewide)

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[constituency_baseline] Dominant industry: NAICS 44-45 - Retail Trade (share 0.11)

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[constituency_baseline] Dominant industry: NAICS 61 - Educational Services (share 0.12)

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[constituency_baseline] Dominant industry: NAICS 62 - Health Care and Social Assistance (share 0.25)

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[constituency_baseline] Top employer: St. Louis Public Schools (4000 employees)

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[constituency_baseline] Top employer: Washington University in St. Louis (16000 employees)

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[constituency_baseline] Top employer: BJC HealthCare (Barnes-Jewish Hospital) (31000 employees)

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[constituency_baseline] District summary: Missouri's 1st Congressional District encompasses all of St. Louis City and much of northern St. Louis County, including Ferguson, Florissant, University City, and Maryland Heights. With a Cook PVI of D+29, it is the most Democratic district in Missouri. The district is a majority-minority district: approximately 46.

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Voted nay on H.R. 1 (119th Congress) (One Big Beautiful Bill Act (FY2025 Reconciliation)) on 2025-05-22: Bell voted Nay alongside every House Democrat against the GOP reconciliation bill, which he said 'guts Medicaid' and cuts SNAP. MO-01's poverty rate is 17%, well above the national average of 12.4%, and 12.5% of constituents lack health insurance — making

primary · 2025-05-22

Voted yea on H.R. 23 (Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act (ICC Sanctions)) on 2025-01-09: Bell was one of only 45 House Democrats to vote with all 198 Republicans to sanction the International Criminal Court over arrest warrants for Israeli leaders. The vote directly tracked the donor interest of AIPAC, whose super PAC spent $8.6 million to secure his prima

primary · 2025-01-09

Voted nay on H.R. 29 (Laken Riley Act) on 2025-01-07: Bell voted with the majority of House Democrats (159 out of 207) against the bill, which requires DHS detention of non-citizens arrested for theft-related crimes. While his vote aligned with the Democratic leadership position, Missouri statewide voted 58.5% for Trump in 2024 — putting Democratic members f

primary · 2025-01-07

[disclosure] In July 2020, after a five-month review, Bell announced he would not charge former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the 2014 killing of Michael Brown, stating the evidence did not support prosecution. Protests erupted.

primary · 2020-07-30

[platform] Bell was elected to the Ferguson City Council in 2015 and played 'a key role in implementing police and court reforms,' including officer body cameras, stronger police training, and overhaul of the municipal court system, according to his official House biography.

primary · 2025-03-18

No connections mapped

Bill	Vote	Date	Alignment
One Big Beautiful Bill Act (FY2025 Reconciliation)	nay	2025-05-22	aligned
Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act (ICC Sanctions)	yea	2025-01-09	aligned
Laken Riley Act	nay	2025-01-07	mixed

Last contradiction analysis: Never

position_evolution 60/100

Platform: "Bell was elected to the Ferguson City Council in 2015 and played 'a key role in implementing police and court reforms,' including officer body cameras"

Vote: on "In July 2020, after a five-month review, Bell announced he would not charge former Ferguson police o"

Bell's platform emphasizes his role in police reform and body cameras, but as St. Louis County Prosecutor he declined to charge the officer who killed Michael Brown, disappointing many activists who had supported his reform candidacy and expected acc

same_source_inconsistency 30/100

Platform: "Bell campaigned in 2018 for St. Louis County Prosecutor as a reformer who pledged to 'end the death penalty' and review old death penalty cases. His c"

Vote: on "As prosecutor (2019-2024), Bell kept his pledge not to seek the death penalty, but allowed several e"

[auto-downgraded: both claims come from the same source host] Bell campaigned in 2018 on ending the death penalty and reviewing old death penalty cases, but as prosecutor allowed several executions to proceed unopposed. His office did intervene in th

Last silence detection: Never

AIPAC/United Democracy Project's role in his primary victory

511d silent

Expected position: A member of Congress whose primary victory was decisively enabled by a specific outside group's $8.6 million in spending would be expected to transparently address the nature of tha

Israel-Gaza policy details during 2024 primary campaign

284d silent

Expected position: As a Democratic primary challenger heavily backed by pro-Israel groups, Bell would be expected to articulate a detailed policy platform on Israel, Gaza military aid, and conditions

No donor interests mapped

No constituency baseline modelled

No platform commitments archived

No committee memberships recorded

Scoring Methodology

The Capture Risk Score is a composite 0–100 index measuring potential regulatory capture of elected officials. It is computed from seven weighted components:

Component	Weight	Signal
Silence Risk	25%	Topics where donors have interests but the official is silent
Contradiction Risk	25%	Stated positions contradicted by voting record (recent findings boosted)
Connection Density	20%	Mapped relationships to lobbyists, contractors, interest groups
Intelligence Volume	10%	Documented facts from verified sources (logarithmic scale)
Donor Influence	10%	Distinct donors with interests overlapping committee jurisdiction
Constituency Deviation	5%	Gap between district priorities and legislative focus
Voting Misalignment	5%	Floor votes contradicting stated platform positions

Each component produces a raw score 0–100. The weighted sum yields the overall score. Tier thresholds: Critical ≥ 45, High ≥ 36, Elevated ≥ 22, Moderate ≥ 10, Low < 10.

Officials without at least 2 documented facts, 1 contradiction analysis, 1 voting record, or 1 constituency baseline are marked Insufficient Evidence and excluded from numeric ranking.

Contradiction findings from the last 180 days receive a recency boost. High-severity contradictions (score ≥ 70) receive additional weight.

Full methodology: /congress/methodology

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