ELECTIONS

Lucas Kunce to face Josh Hawley in Senate race in November general election

Portrait of Susan Szuch Susan Szuch
Springfield News-Leader

Democrat Lucas Kunce will get his chance to challenge Republican Sen. Josh Hawley for one of Missouri's two seats in the U.S. Senate in the November general election.

The Associated Press, New York Times and other media outlets called the Democratic primary for Kunce based on early voting totals that showed the Independence Democrat with a commanding lead over state Sen. Karla May and other primary rivals. Kunce ended the night with 67.7% of the primary vote, with May a distant second with 23.2%.

Hawley, unopposed in Tuesday's Republican primary, has served as one of Missouri's two senators since 2019. He was raised in rural Missouri and graduated from Stanford and Yale. He spent time as Missouri's Attorney General and is a constitutional lawyer.

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley took part in the 145th Independence Day Parade in Marshfield on Thursday, July 4, 2024.

According to his campaign website, Hawley wants to confront illegal immigration, take on corporate special interests, and champion working families in Missouri. He also wants to end the offshoring of American jobs and to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S.

More:Josh Hawley's Senate seat is up for election. Here's who's running

Kunce, who lost the 2022 Democratic primary for Senate to Trudy Busch Valentine, is a former Marine who served in Afghanistan and at the Pentagon before getting involved in politics. An outspoken critic of Hawley and "country club politicians," he has called for campaign finance reform and supports abortion rights and organized labor.

U.S. Senate candidate Lucas Kunce took part in the 145th Independence Day Parade in Marshfield on Thursday, July 4, 2024.

Neither Kunce nor Hawley wasted time Tuesday before beginning the general election sparring — less than an hour after the Democratic race was called for Kunce, the pair began trading barbs about debating on media, with Hawley calling for a showdown at the Missouri State Fair and Kunce upping the ante for a debate on Fox News.

W.C. Young of Kansas City will run as the Libertarian Party candidate in the general election, along with Jared Young, an independent from the Joplin area who founded the Better Party in Missouri earlier this year.