GOP Sen. Josh Hawley and Democrat Lucas Kunce livened up the Governor’s Ham Breakfast at the Missouri State Fair with a spicy exchange Thursday.
Hawley and Kunce met face-to-face in the center of the breakfast and traded insults.
Hawley said: “It's great to see out of your basement. Lucas, by the way, are you going to do any campaign events around the state or just media?”
Kunce responded: “Josh, why are you so weird? Man, why are you so creepy?”
The breakfast generally marks the kickoff of Missouri’s general election season. The gathering is a chance for candidates from both parties to socialize informally and talk to the media about their campaign path ahead.
But after Hawley arrived at the fairgrounds in Sedalia, he told a group of reporters to follow him and he started going back and forth with Kunce about debating outside the fair.
“Let’s debate,” Hawley said to Kunce.
“Kind of cartoony man,” Kunce replied.
Hawley wanted to debate Kunce across the street at a barbeque restaurant. But Kunce said the fact that the debate was sponsored by the Missouri Farm Bureau raised a number of questions, including whether that group could actually host a debate based on Federal Election Commission guidelines. Kunce also noted that the Farm Bureau endorsed Hawley’s campaign.
Kunce wants to have a series of televised debates.
“We've accepted five debates, and we'll continue to accept them,” Kunce said. “Josh is too scared to do it. He's too used to running away.”
Hawley contended that Kunce was wrong about the FEC barring the Farm Bureau from hosting a debate, adding that the group’s political action committee endorsed him — not the group itself. He also said that farm bureaus in other states have hosted debates for political candidates.
“He is unwilling to debate. He's been in his basement for two weeks, and he spent the last two weeks insulting the Farm Bureau,” Hawley said.
Neither political party is spending outside money in Missouri’s Senate race — a signal that Democrats and Republicans may not see Hawley as vulnerable. But Hawley has said he expects a torrent of money to be spent against him, perhaps because he’s become something of a lightning rod with progressives across the state and the country.
“I take my opponent absolutely seriously,” Hawley said. “His ideas, his plans have wrecked this country. And what he wants to do now is dangerous. And the people deserve to hear the contrasts. That’s why I invited him to debate today.”
Kunce said that Hawley is too extreme for Missouri — even though the state moved farther to the right in recent years. And he's often noted that Missouri's 2016 U.S. Senate race was initially seen as competitive, even though U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt only edged out Democrat Jason Kander by several percentage points.
“Josh Hawley wants to talk about everything except for the issues and the decision making ability that he's taken away from everyday Missourians,” Kunce said. “Like he wants to control us in the bedroom, in the doctor's office, in the workplace.”
Fight for union support
The rancor didn’t end at the breakfast.
At the Farm Bureau-sponsored event, a group of United Auto Workers union members interrupted Hawley’s speech and began chanting for the GOP lawmaker to take part in a televised debate.
Hawley supporters chanted back “USA, USA, USA!” in response.
Both Hawley and Kunce have sought to court organized labor. Hawley has shown up to picket lines and made overtures to labor unions like Teamsters. He added he no longer supported what’s known as right to work, which bars unions and employers from paying dues as a condition of employment. When he was running for attorney general in 2016, Hawley sent out a tweet backing right to work — which Missouri voters repealed in 2018.
“I don't think it's fair to ask union organizers to have to organize for people who are not paying union dues,” Hawley said Thursday. “When you get a union contract, it's for all the workers in the shop. But if a bunch of those people don't pay dues, but yet they get the benefit of the contract, I just think that's not fair.”
Kunce, who received the backing of the AFL-CIO in the primary — contends Hawley is changing his position because he may be facing a tougher-than-expected election.
“He's tried to remake himself in an election year because he knows that taking away our rights is not something that people want, and he's scared about it,” Kunce said.
Abortion on the ballot
One of the reasons why the Kunce-Hawley race may be more competitive is the presence of a ballot item legalizing abortion.
Democrats, including gubernatorial hopeful Crystal Quade, are confident that the proposed constitutional amendment will boost turnout and make statewide and legislative contests much more competitive than they’ve been in recent elections.
“We know that that's going to excite people and turn folks out to vote,” Quade, who serves as the House Minority Leader, said Thursday. “Because Missourians are tired of politicians telling us what to do. And we know that in every corner of our state, folks are going to be supportive of that issue.”
Quade’s opponent, Republican Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, echoed some other GOP political figures at the fair who said the amendment may also turn out voters who are opposed to abortion rights — even though similar abortion legalization measures have passed in other states.
“We need to make sure that amendment goes down,” Kehoe said. “That's not who Missourians are.”
The other potential variable in boosting turnout could be the presidential contest. While Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is not expected to win Missouri, her presence on the ballot could boost turnout among women and Black voters which may make statewide contests closer than in 2016 or 2020.
“Women are upset that people have taken away their right to make their own decisions about their body,” said Democratic state Rep. Gretchen Bangert, who recently won election to the St. Louis County Council. “I think they're going to come out in droves.”
GOP U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt, though, said he doesn’t think Missouri Republicans like Hawley have much to worry about.
“I think Missouri is a pretty Republican state right now, and I think [GOP candidates] are all going to win,” Schmitt said.
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