Veterans group endorsing Josh Hawley’s challenger in Missouri Senate race

Liberal veterans PAC VoteVets is endorsing Sen. Josh Hawley’s (R-Mo.) challenger, Democrat Lucas Kunce, in Missouri’s Senate race, praising his experience as a veteran and being a “champion” of democracy. 

The group, which has a network of more than 1.5 million supporters, will officially declare its backing of Kunce on Thursday, according to a copy of the announcement first shared with The Hill. 

“In these unprecedented times, people like Lucas, and his background and experiences, are the exact kind of people we need in the United States Senate,” said Travis Tazelaar, the political director of VoteVets PAC.

“Lucas has already stood up and fought tirelessly to protect our democracy and he will do so again in the Senate,” Tazelaar added. “He will be a champion for veterans, service members, health care, our democracy, our freedoms, and all Missourians. Put simply, Lucas is a doer and knows how to get things done.”

VoteVets will also financially back the Democrat. 

The group will max out direct contributions to the campaign both in the primary and the general election cycle, according to a source familiar with the matter. When it comes to supporting the self-described populist with advertising and independent expenditures, the source said those decisions are “still being made,” but the PAC is “committed” to helping him become the Show Me State’s next senator.

“I’m proud to have earned the support of VoteVets and its 1.5-million-member network of supporters dedicated to electing those who’ve served,” Kunce said in a statement. “I joined the Marines because I wanted to pay back my community that rallied around my family when my littlest sister was born with a heart condition. So many vets have stories like mine.”

The veterans group’s fresh support follows a bevy of labor organizations that endorsed Kunce, an antitrust lawyer who recently added the United Auto Workers to his list of supporters. Hawley’s campaign has received backing from the Teamsters, one of the nation’s most powerful labor unions, which donated $5,000 to the senator’s reelection campaign in April. 

The 13-year Marine veteran, who unsuccessfully ran for the upper chamber seat in 2022, is likely to win the August 6 primary. The race is rated as a “Solid R” by nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report. Organizers are racing to put a measure that would protect abortion rights in the state on the ballot in November, a development that could help turn out more Democrats in the state.

Kunce has gone after Hawley over in vitro fertilization access, running an ad in late March claiming he would not protect that procedure, something the senator’s campaign has denied. 

Hawley, who joined the senate in 2019, leads his Democratic opponent in the polls, according to FiveThirtyEight’s tally. However, Kunce has made some noise by outraising Hawley in the first quarter of this year, bringing in $2.25 million in donations according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). During the same period, Hawley’s campaign account received $1.9 million. 

Still, the incumbent’s campaign has more cash-on-hand about $5.5 million, according to the latest FEC reports. The antitrust attorney has $3.3 million. The primary is set for August 6.

“It’s time this country started investing in nation-building America instead of abroad,” Kunce said. “I’m grateful to have VoteVets in this fight alongside me to take this Senate seat back for real Missourians and not a bunch of D.C. elites who send us to war over and over again with nothing to show for it.”

The Hill has reached out to Hawley’s office for comment.