Lucas Kunce, a 13-year veteran of the U.S. Marines, recently launched his campaign to unseat Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO).
Kunce, a Democrat, launched his new 2024 Senate campaign on the two year anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. capitol. As his opening campaign video, Kunce mocked Hawley for his appearing to run through a hallway on the day demonstrators breached the capitol.
Kunce’s campaign video begins on a man in a tattered suit running down a country road in Lexington, Missouri.
“My name is Lucas Kunce,” he narrated. “I’ve done a lot of running in my life, running to stay healthy, running to fight for my country, running to defend democracy.”
“Oh, and by the way, that guy you’re looking at, that’s not me. That’s our current U.S. Senator, Josh Hawley,” Kunce narrated as the actor portraying Hawley tripped and fell.
“I swear, this coward’s always running from something,” Kunce continued.
“And now this is the guy who’s writing a book, telling every single one of us how to be a man,” Kunce said, in reference to Hawley’s forthcoming book “Manhood: The Masculine Virtues America Needs.”
Kunce then introduced himself over photos from his childhood, as well as from his time in the Marines.
“This is me, Lucas Kunce, running for Senate. I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth, but I did have the support of my community, which made me who I am today,” Kunce said. “When things get tough, Missourians deserve a U.S. Senator who will stand up for them – not run away.”
Kunce said that unlike Hawley, he didn’t go to “a fancy prep school.”
Where Hawley went to law school, Kunce said, “I joined the Marine Corps to pay back the community that took care of me.”
“When he was climbing the ladder to become another corrupt politician, I was serving my country and working to put an end to overseas wars,” Kunce continued.
“When giant corporations were stripping Missouri for parts, he attacked workers and shipped our jobs away, while I fought to take power back for American workers and small businesses,” Kunce added. “And when he voted against relief for vets like me who were exposed to toxic burn pits, I stood up alongside thousands of veterans to hold him accountable.”
Kunce’s comment about Hawley voting against relief for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits appears to be in reference to his July 29, 2022 vote against a particular piece of legislation providing healthcare for veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxic exposures. In February of 2022, the Senate voted in favor of an earlier draft of that same bill by unanimous consent. Hawley also voted in favor of a different bill to provide healthcare benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits in June of 2022.
In August, Hawley voted in favor of the bill he had voted against in July, after the bill was amended.
Kunce ended his add saying, “I’m Lucas Kunce, and I approve this message, because Josh Hawley is a fraud and a coward. And by the time I’m done with him, the whole world’s gonna know it. So keep on running, Josh, keep on running.”
Kunce ran for a Senate seat in Missouri in 2022 but lost in the Democratic primary.
