[1]Lucas Kunce for U.S. Senate
[ [link removed] ]Headshot of Jason Kander
Hi John,
it’s Jason Kander. I’m the veteran and Democrat who was elected statewide
as Missouri’s Secretary of State and then nearly defeated Roy Blunt, an
incumbent GOP Senator, in one of the closest races of the 2016 election
cycle.
With Joe Manchin’s retirement taking West Virginia’s Senate race off the
board, our Senate race here in Missouri is the perfect candidate to
replace it.
So in a moment, [ [link removed] ]I’m going to ask you to join me in supporting Lucas
Kunce’s campaign to defeat Josh Hawley. But first, please let me explain
why I know Lucas has what it takes to flip this Senate seat:
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If you’ve followed election coverage over the last year or so, the pundits
might lead you to believe something new is happening.
Despite high disapproval for President Joe Biden in red states like
Kentucky and Mississippi, Democrats outperformed their party’s
presidential margin in statewide races by double digits. And after
Republican-dominated legislatures passed extreme abortion bans in red
states like Kansas and Ohio, voters delivered huge wins for reproductive
rights and democracy.
But the truth is, this isn’t all that new. While pundits and insiders
increasingly divide us into columns of red and blue based on their
one-dimensional view of politics, voters continue to confound their
expectations in election after election.
Missouri is a great example. While our state has shifted solidly red in
presidential preferences since 2012, Democrats have won a half-dozen
statewide campaigns, even as recently as 2018. And when Missouri
politicians have adopted extreme positions on issues such as abortion,
workers’ rights or health care, they’ve often seen their out-of-touch
agendas soundly rejected by voters.
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. I won a race for
Missouri Secretary of State. And in 2016, Missouri’s last Senate race to
take place during a presidential election, I fell just 2.8% short of
defeating a longtime Republican incumbent for U.S. Senate. And I
outperformed the Democratic presidential ticket’s margin by more than 16%.
We proved that in races where well-funded candidates can set themselves
apart and make it clear to voters that they’ll fight for them in office,
Democrats can win in Missouri.
That’s what we’re seeing in Missouri’s current U.S. Senate race, as my
friend Lucas Kunce takes on incumbent Josh Hawley. Much like my race in
2016, 2024 pits a labor-backed veteran against a politician — except my
opponent never tried to overthrow the government violently just to get his
name out there.
Now up for reelection in 2024, Hawley faces Lucas, a Marine veteran and
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.
[ [link removed] ]I’m proud to support Lucas Kunce in his race against Josh Hawley and I
hope you’ll join me by adding a donation of $10 or whatever
you’re able to today. Multiple polls have already confirmed that this will
be a tight race, so your early support could be what helps Lucas tip the
scales.
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Now let’s talk about why Josh Hawley is so vulnerable.
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.
And since he’s represented Missouri in the U.S. Senate, 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.
Now with five years under Hawley’s belt in the U.S. Senate, Missourians
don’t like what they’ve seen.
Approval polling from Morning Consult shows that Hawley has the lowest
approval of any GOP senator running for reelection in 2024, lower than
Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida. And even his mentor,
Missouri’s former U.S. Sen. John Danforth, has called backing Hawley the
“worst mistake I ever made.”
Donald Trump recently commented on Hawley’s race too — “So interesting
that the Democrats are looking hard at the Senate races in both Missouri
and Texas. Josh and Ted must be very careful, stranger things have
happened!!!”
Hawley is vulnerable, and everyone 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 Lucas
entered the race.
[ [link removed] ]FIGHT BACK: ELECT LUCAS KUNCE
Just as we saw in elections across the country — both last year and in the
last decade — pundits and presidential politics won’t be deciding the
result of every race in 2024. Voters will be.
That’s why I’m confident that Lucas Kunce can defeat Josh Hawley.
And with so much at stake in this election — reproductive freedom, health
care access, and even our democracy — this race must be a priority.
That’s why I’m asking you today,
John:
[ [link removed] ]Will you join me in supporting Lucas Kunce’s campaign against Josh
Hawley for Missouri’s U.S. Senate seat? This is one of our best and only
opportunities to flip a GOP-held Senate seat in 2024, so I hope you’ll
consider adding a donation of $10 or whatever you can afford toward Lucas’
campaign today.
If you've stored your info with ActBlue Express, we'll process your
contribution instantly:
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[ [link removed] ]Contribute $25
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[ [link removed] ]Contribute $250
[ [link removed] ]Give another amount
Thank you so much,
Jason Kander
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Paid for by Lucas Kunce for Missouri.
Use of military rank, job titles, and photographs in uniform do not imply endorsement by the Department of the Navy or the Department of Defense.