ST. LOUIS —The field of candidates in the Democratic race for Missouri’s first congressional district seat is growing, with confirmation that Maria Chappelle-Nadal, a former State Representative and State Senator from University City will join St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell in challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Cori Bush.

Bush last week confirmed she is the target of a federal investigation into her campaign’s spending on private security.

Bell switched over to the House race late last fall after announcing a run for the U.S. Senate.

Chappelle-Nadal served in the Missouri House from 2004 until 2010 and then won a seat in the State Senate where she served from 2011-2018.

Chappelle-Nadal, who was outspoken over issues related to the Westlake landfill and the civil unrest in Ferguson in 2014 after the shooting death of Michael Brown, was censured in 2017 in the State Senate for comments she made on social media about then-President Donald Trump during his presidency.

Most recently, Chappelle-Nadal served as a legislative assistant to St. Louis County Councilwoman Rita Heard Days and settled an employment discrimination lawsuit against St. Louis County late last year, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

In a social media video launching her campaign Tuesday, Chappelle-Nadal suggested Bell was a Republican “plant” in the race and that Bush is “someone who has created more controversy than progress since we sent her to Washington.”

The Bush and Bell campaigns did not immediate respond to requests for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Filing for the August primary opens Feb. 27 and closes March 26.

St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones, a Bush ally, told Spectrum News last week she would wait until filing closes to interview candidates and consider an endorsement.