Missouri's Democratic candidate, Lucas Kunce, wants to help voters in his state "take back power" from politicians like GOP Senator . Former President won Missouri by more than 15 points in 2020, and the state's governor, attorney general and both senators are . Hawley has raised more than $22 million for his reelection campaign, whereas Kunce has raked in just half that amount.
But the Marine veteran says that Missourians are ready for change, describing Hawley as a "typical country club" politician and suggesting he's disconnected from voters' needs. "We are really trying to take power back , who want to control us and take our power away," Kunce told . "He wants to control us in the bedroom, the doctor's office, the workplace.
He was a right-to-work guy, anti-union. He won't protect IVF or contraception." As a retired Marine, Kunce also expressed concern that Missouri doesn't have any veterans serving in .
"One of the failings that we have here in Missouri is that not a single member of Congress from Missouri is a veteran, not any of them," he said. While Hawley with a significant advantage, Kunce's team says this will evaporate as the campaign moves forward. In a somewhat positive sign, Emerson College polling carried out in January and then again in July suggests Kunce may be making inroads.
The January data showed him trailing Hawley by 12 percent, but in the latest Emerson poll the margin decreased to 9 points. Abortion will also be on the Missouri ballot in November, .