Missouri U.S. Senate race: Kunce, Hawley make cases for Senate seat

ST. LOUIS – The race for Missouri’s U.S. Senate seat between Republican incumbent Josh Hawley and Democrat Lucas Kunce has gotten downright nasty at times. Each candidate has accused the other of being radical and wrong for Missouri.

FOX 2 spoke with both candidates and asked them to explain why they believe they’ve earned your vote.

Lucas Kunce

The two-time U.S. Senate candidate and retired Marine is running on a platform emphasizing his support for abortion rights, working-class upbringing, and military service.

Kunce wasted no time going after the incumbent in our sit-down interview.

“His time in office has been spent making half-a-million dollars off of book sales off a self-help book called ‘Manhood,’ leaving the rest of us in the dust, treating us like flyover country,” he said.

Kunce has repeatedly accused Hawley of bringing “zero dollars” back to Missouri during his time in office. FOX 2 presented Kunce with a letter from the U.S. military to Hawley’s office, confirming nearly $100 million secured for housing at Fort Leonard Wood. Kunce doubled down on claim.

“They gave him that letter because he was whining to them to try to cover his behind, and they were like, ‘Ok, whatever dude, we are going to spend this amount of money on military housing.’ It happened in spite of him, not because of him,” he said.

Kunce brands himself as a different kind of Democrat, one that can work with both sides of the aisle and represent rural Missourians. He’s also repeatedly declined to say who he’s voting for, even for president. He’s gone so far as to run an ad on our station, mentioning former President Donald Trump.

We asked the Democrat if that could be confusing for potential voters.

“In today’s day and age, it probably is confusing to see somebody who’s willing to work with any party; that’s willing to work with any president from any party and any president; because it’s pretty rare, right, but that’s me,” he said.

Senator Hawley has repeatedly attacked Kunce on the campaign trail by claiming he supports taxpayer money going to transgender surgeries and hormone treatments.

“I’ve never said that men should be in women’s sports or women’s locker rooms or anything like that,” Kunce said. “I think that if you need healthcare, I don’t think the government should be involved in what you do or do not get.”

Kunce has spent as much time talking about abortion rights as any other topic during this campaign. If elected, he says he would work to codify Roe v. Wade to guarantee access to abortion nationwide.

“I think America was founded on equality and we should all have access to the same rights,” he said.

And no matter which party you affiliate with, Kunce says he wants your vote on Tuesday.

“We need a US Senator who’s going to bring money back to the state. I’m going to do that; I’m excited to do that,” he said. “People just want a senator who’s going to take care of them again.”

Josh Hawley

Hawley, a first-term senator, is a staunch supporter of former President Trump and has branded himself as a populist, expressing his support for unions and opposition to unfair trade policies that hurt American workers. But Hawley has centered much of his campaign around attacking his opponent. He’s accused Lucas Kunce of lying to Missouri and not being forthright about his true policy stances.

The incumbent is leading in most polls and has closely aligned himself with the former president in a state that is expected to go red once again in 2024.

During our interview, Hawley attacked Kunce for not saying who he is voting for.

“He wants to be a senator and represent the people of this state? He can’t be honest with the people of this state,” Hawley said. “If you can’t be honest about who you’re voting for, you can’t be honest about anything. That’s Lucas Kunce.”

Kunce has accused Hawley of wanting to slash Social Security, a claim Hawley denies. The senator instead accuses Kunce of supporting amnesty for people who have entered the U.S. illegally, something many Republicans argue would bankrupt the program.

“This is a guy who wants to give Social Security and Medicare to illegals,” Hawley said. “He wants to take billions of dollars in tax money that our people have paid into and give it to illegal immigrants. It’s absolutely insane.”

Kunce has also accused Hawley of being out-of-touch with the average Missourian, calling him “your typical country club Republican” and a “swamp creature.” Hawley says that’s not the case and argues some of Kunce’s previous policy positions would hurt working class voters.

“You can’t be for working people if you are for taking away gas and diesel and taking away people’s pickup trucks and cars. That’s what he wants to do,” Hawley said. “It’s absolutely insane.”

Another area where the candidates differ is on the United States’ role in Israel’s military actions in the Middle East. Kunce tells FOX 2 he supports more aid to Gaza and a ceasefire, comparing the conflict to America’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Senator Hawley disagrees.

“We don’t need a ceasefire – let Israel protect Israel,” he said. “We should stand by them and help them. They’re not asking us to fight their war; they’re asking for our support as they protect their borders, which I’m for, 100%.”

However, Hawley feels it’s time the U.S. stop sending so much money to Ukraine in support of its defense against the Russian invasion.

Finally, Hawley has been a vocal advocate for re-instating funding to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Reauthorization Act to provide money for people in our area impacted by negative effects from the World War II-era Manhattan Project.

"There's been a huge problem for over 50 years. They need to clean it up and we need to compensate people and there’s no alternative to that,” Hawley said.