CHESTERFIELD, Mo. – Missouri Republican U.S. Senator Josh Hawley made his first stop in the St. Louis area since launching his “Hawley for Senate Campaign Kickoff Tour” following his uncontested primary victory Tuesday night.
Hawley will now face Democrat Lucas Kunce in the November general election. Hawley is seeking his second term in the Senate after defeating Democrat Claire McCaskill in 2018.
A fired-up crowd of supporters filled a barn at Stemme Farm, the site of Thursday night’s rally. Hawley came to Chesterfield after kicking off his re-election bid in the Ozarks on Wednesday and hosting an event outside of Kansas City early Thursday before making the trip across the state.
The senator didn’t waste any time attacking his opponent on Thursday evening.
“Lucas Kunce thinks a border wall is racist. He wants no border wall at all; he wants open borders,” Hawley said. “I’ll tell you what, it is totally nuts. But it’s Kunce.”
More than 100 people showed up for the rally Thursday and cheered for the first-term senator from Lexington, Mo. He attacked Kunce repeatedly while engaging supporters.
FOX 2 spoke with a few of those supporters.
“We stand with Josh Hawley, and he’s done a lot of good for the state of Missouri,” supporter Sandy Austin said.
“He’s there for we the people, and we the people need more people like that in Washington, D.C.,” Shirley Milliken said.
After Hawley’s speech, he stopped to talk with FOX 2, reiterating his commitment to aiding victims of the Manhattan Project in the area and fighting to restore RICA legislation, which provides financial support for those still affected by radiation.
“We’ve got to pass compensation for every single person in this state who was exposed to nuclear radiation and poison because of it, and if they’ve lost a family member, they ought to get a survivor benefit,” Hawley said.
The senator also slammed the Army Corps of Engineers and the EPA for their handling of the cleanup efforts.
“They haven’t cleaned it up! That’s the bottom line: it is not clean,” he said.
Hawley also targeted his opponent after Kunce held a rally in Maplewood on Wednesday focused on reproductive rights, saying it is Kunce who is trying to take power away from voters.
“It ought to be decided by the voters, and that’s not what my opponents want. My opponent wants national legislation to enforce a national abortion agenda. I think that’s crazy, or, as I was saying earlier, that’s nuts,” Hawley said.
The next question is whether these candidates will debate and where it will happen. Hawley has proposed a debate at the Missouri State Fair next week without moderators. Both men have accused the other of running away from a spirited discussion.
