Jason Kander: Lucas Kunce can defeat Josh Hawley

Jason Kander is out with a powerful op-ed in the Kansas City Star endorsing Lucas Kunce and highlighting Missouri as a top target for Senate Democrats in 2024.

Highlights:

“Lucas Kunce can defeat Josh Hawley. With Joe Manchin’s retirement taking West Virginia’s Senate race off the board, Missouri is the perfect candidate to replace it. And for anyone who cares about democracy, reproductive freedom, health care access and working families, this race should be a priority.”

“Hawley has the lowest approval of any Republican senator running for reelection in 2024, lower than Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida.”

“Just like voters in states where we’ve seen big wins for Democrats and pro-freedom initiatives in the past year, hundreds of thousands of voters in Missouri are still splitting their tickets. I know this more than most because I’ve lived it. In 2012, I won the race for Missouri secretary of state. And in 2016, I fell just 2.8% short of defeating a longtime Republican incumbent for U.S. Senate, outperforming the Democratic presidential ticket’s margin by more than 16%. Much like my race in 2016, 2024 pits a labor-backed veteran against a politician — except people actually liked my opponent.”

“Hawley famously popped popcorn in his dorm room to gleefully watch the invasion of Iraq and then claimed a decade later to have opposed the war. But in Missouri, he’s also become known as a desperately anti-union scab who is self-consciously obsessed with manhood. From blocking defense nominations to voting against health care for veterans exposed to burn pits, Hawley has put his personal politics ahead of national security and the needs of military families. And he’s used his office to build a family business dedicated to restricting abortion access nationwide as his allies in Jefferson City enacted one of the nation’s most extreme abortion bans.”

“Donald Trump is well aware Hawley’s seat is in danger… Hawley is vulnerable, and he knows it. The proof is in his rapidly changing election-season rhetoric, Republicans in Washington fretting about their draconian abortion bans across the country, and Hawley’s billionaire allies launching a new pro-Hawley super PAC right after Kunce entered the race.”

“Now up for reelection in 2024, Hawley faces Kunce, a Marine veteran and leading antitrust advocate who’s broken fundraising records, rallied Missouri’s election-winning labor movement behind him and built a reputation as a different kind of Democrat who speaks truth to power, regardless of party. And polls already show a tightening race.”

The full op-ed can be read at https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/readers-opinion/guest-commentary/article282917633.html

“Jason has always put service first. It’s something I have and will always admire about him,” said Kunce. “I’m grateful to have his support. He knows more than most what it will take to make this race competitive. We’ve built the worker-led, people-powered, and record-breaking coalition that can defeat Josh Hawley and take this U.S. Senate seat back for working families.”