Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Lucas Kunce is facing the challenging task of upending Republican Sen. Josh Hawley in a state that’s become GOP-dominated.
Kunce is making a strong bid. He’s been raising money at a feverish clip since entering the Senate race in 2023, including a $8.3 million haul from July through the end of September. And Hawley is taking Kunce’s effort to oust him seriously, as seen with a flurry of negative television ads, and with confrontations at the Missouri State Fair and a recent Missouri Press Association forum.
"It's fear," Kunce said during an appearance on the Politically Speaking Hour on St. Louis on the Air. “He knows he's unlikable. He knows that his positions are completely out of line with everyday Missourians. And he’s losing it over that.”
To beat Hawley, though, Kunce will have to persuade a significant amount of Republican leaning voters to back him. Hawley spent a noticeable amount of time at the Missouri Press Association forum pressing Kunce about why he hasn’t endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee.
When asked whether that will hurt him with Missouri Democrats who are excited about her campaign, Kunce replied, “What Josh Hawley wants to do is he wants to make this race about the presidential politics or something like that, because he knows he's way less popular.”
“He's doing everything he can to try to distract from the fact that he doesn't bring any money to this state, that I grew up here, that I understand how people live, and that I want to invest in this state,” Kunce said. “And for me, I didn't get into this race to decide who the president was going to be. I got into this race to invest in Missouri.”
Kunce wants shift in U.S. immigration policy
Kunce supports what’s known as the "Remain in Mexico" policy. That would prompt people with an asylum claim to stay in Mexico while they await their day in court.
He also criticized Hawley for not supporting a recent Senate immigration proposal, which included authorizing more immigration judges and providing more money for the Border Patrol.
“He's just happy to have this as a campaign issue rather than keeping us safe,” Kunce said. “As a Marine, my job is to see problems, fix problems, move on to the next one, right? And I just wish we had politicians who felt the same way.”
Kunce also said he would support getting rid of the Senate filibuster, which he added is an impediment to getting major policy initiatives past the finish line.
“I think the filibuster is a tool to maintain a status quo that just doesn't work for most of us,” Kunce said.
Recently, Harris said she would support a filibuster carve-out to codify protections for abortion. That prompted U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia to not endorse Harris’ presidential candidacy, primarily because Manchin sees the filibuster as a moderating influence in Congress.
“This isn't about Republicans or Democrats. If the Republicans have control of the House, the Senate and the presidency, and they pass a law, then they should be able to do that,” Kunce said. “Same for Democrats. The way people get held accountable in this country is through elections. So if they're going to pass a bad law, then the other side gets to run on that and gets to try to beat them.”
The Politically Speaking Hour on St. Louis on the Air has invited Hawley to be on the program.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Ulaa Kuziez, Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr and the production intern is Jada Jones. Send questions and comments about this story to talk@stlpr.org.
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