Josh Hawley's Senate seat is up for election. Here's who's running
Missouri voters will elect one member to the U.S. Senate in the Nov. 5 general election.
The seat is currently held by Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, who was first elected in 2018 and is running unopposed for his party's nomination this year. Six candidates from other parties will appear on primary ballots, as well, with Democratic candidates Lucas Kunce and Karla May, and Better Party/Independent candidate Jared Young with the most name recognition across the state. Other candidates include Democrats December Harmon and Mita Biswas and Libertarian W.C. Young.
The only contested race on Aug. 6 ballots is in the Democratic primary.
Josh Hawley (Republican)
Website: https://www.hawley.senate.gov/
Who is he? A Republican Senator from Missouri, Josh Hawley is running uncontested in the Republican primaries as he seeks reelection. Raised in rural Missouri and a graduate of Stanford and Yale, Hawley previously served as Missouri Attorney General. A constitutional lawyer, he has litigated at the Supreme Court of the United States, federal court of appeals, and in state court. Hawley was included on former President Donald Trump's list of 20 potential U.S. Supreme Court nominees released in 2020.
Why is he running? Hawley did not respond to requests for an interview by press time. According to the Hawley campaign website, Hawley wants to protect Missouri workers and families:
"He has battled big government and big business, special interests, organized crime, and anyone who would threaten the well-being of Missourians," the website says.
A Christian from rural Missouri, Hawley recently identified himself as a Christian Nationalist at the July 8 plenary address for the 2024 National Conservatism Conference.
What does he want to do if elected? According to his website, Sen. Hawley wants to confront illegal immigration, take on corporate special interests, and champion working families in Missouri. He also wants to end the offshoring of American jobs and to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S.
The Hawley campaign website says that as a senator, Hawley represents Missouri on four critical committees: Judiciary, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Energy and Natural Resources, and Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
"On these committees, Senator Hawley will take on the important work of confirming conservative judges to the U.S. Supreme Court and courts across the nation, overseeing national security, fighting for American energy independence, and protecting small businesses from big government overreach," the website says.
Lucas Kunce (Democrat)
Website: https://lucaskunce.com/
Who is he? Lucas Kunce says his story is a regular Missouri story. Hailing from mid-Missouri, Kunce grew up with three siblings in a Catholic family. The family went bankrupt when they had to pay for three surgeries for Kunce's little sister, and he remembers getting help from veterans in the neighborhood. Kunce went on to become a Marine and was deployed to Afghanistan twice. He also worked in the Pentagon engaged in arms control negotiations with NATO and Russia for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He ran for Missouri's other Senate seat in 2022, losing to Trudy Busch Valentine in the Democratic primary.
Why is he running? Kunce is running because he wants to fundamentally change power in the U.S. He said this race is about going up against politicians who want power rather than empowering constituents to live their best lives and make their own decisions. He said while he was deployed, his community fell apart as the country "lit $6.4 trillion on fire in Iraq and Afghanistan."
"That's because people like Josh Hawley — these country club politicians — literally waged war on it," Kunce said.
Kunce also expressed concerns over Hawley's recent comments proclaiming to be a Christian Nationalist.
"The guy just came out as a Christian Nationalist. He's like, 'Everybody calls me a Christian Nationalist — Well so do I,'" Kunce said. "Well, he's shown us what that means, right? It means controlling us. It means taking away our rights."
What does he want to do if elected? Kunce said a lot of his work is already cut out for him; he just needs to win the race to get the work done. Kunce said he wants to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize Act to ensure protections in the workplace. One of his campaign focuses has also been campaign finance reform, and Kunce wants to abolish corporate political action committees. He also said in his position at the Pentagon, he saw people make decisions based on their stock portfolios. Kunce said he wants to make sure members of congress and federal judges can't own stock, as well. He is also focused on securing abortion rights for Missourians.
"One of the themes that has been very important to me is making sure that the only people I ever owe are the folks in my old neighborhood who took care of me as a kid," Kunce said.
Karla May (Democrat)
Website: https://www.senate.mo.gov/Senators/Member/04/
Who is she? Born and raised in the city of St. Louis, state Sen. Karla May currently resides in the city’s 10th Ward, and has been employed with AT&T for 25 years. She has been a lawmaker for the past 14 years, first serving as a state representative for Missouri's 84th District. She is now a state senator for the 4th District of Missouri and currently serves as minority caucus chair.
Why is she running? May said she is running for Senate for the same reason she joined the legislature at the beginning of her career: She wants to make a difference in the lives of people in her community. With 14 years of political experience, May says she is the most qualified for the Senate seat.
"Most of all, because I'm the most qualified person that's in this race as a candidate to run, and I want us to uphold our Constitution. And not have the people not to have a choice," May told the News-Leader.
What does she want to do if elected? As a state lawmaker, May said, she has been able to do "amazing things," participating in mental health, educational, nonprofit, and first-responder initiatives. She wants more preventative mental health care and for more private insurers to cover mental health issues.
May also said the country needs an overhaul of its credit system. She says the credit system is a burden, keeping people in poverty. She wants to change policy to streamline the credit process for customer service and fair credit reporting.
"There's no way in the world we can have a credit system with three credit agencies that are basically, to me, preventing people from moving forward with no customer service base, none of that," May said.
December Harmon (Democrat)
Website: https://www.december2024.com/
Who is she? December Harmon is a human and civil rights activist based in Columbia, Missouri. She has worked to serve the unhoused community, people with disabilities and at-risk children. She has served on the Commission of Cultural Affairs in Columbia and the Citizen's Police Review Board. Harmon said she was removed from the Citizen's Police Review Board after raising concerns about police brutality in Columbia.
"I've done it all in my years," Harmon told the News-Leader.
Why is she running? As Harmon got more involved with politics as an activist, she said activism wasn't solving the problem. She said she needed a stronger role. She also said she's running because she has noticed a lack of leadership in the Democratic party, and would like the party to do something for its constituents. Harmon would also like to be the first Black senator from Missouri.
"My takeaway from that whole experience was I needed to kind of have a stronger role in government if I want to actually have a solution, so I decided to run for U.S. Senate," Harmon said.
What does she want to do if elected? Harmon said the first thing she would do if elected would be writing legislation to legalize access to abortion. She also wants to get climate change under control, and she says that won't happen through recycling and composting. Instead, Harmon wants to hold corporations responsible for their pollution and emissions. Other issues Harmon is campaigning for include universal healthcare and ending qualified immunity for police officers.
Although she lacks the funding and name-recognition of some other challengers, Harmon said she remains confident about the Aug. 6 primaries and looks forward to the chance to face off against Hawley.
"I ran as someone that I wanted to vote for," Harmon said. "A transparent campaign. We're an original, innovative campaign. And so I'm looking forward to winning this primary. Even though I know everyone thinks the odds are against me, I feel confident."
More: Missouri faith leaders denounce Hawley's speech advocating 'Christian nationalism'
Mita Biswas (Democrat)
The News-Leader was not able to make contact with Democratic candidate Mita Biswas, of St. Louis, by press time. She has not registered a campaign committee with the Missouri Ethics Commission and the News-Leader was unable to locate or verify any online campaign resources.
Jared Young (Better Party/Independent)
Website: https://www.votejaredyoung.com/
Who is he? Jared Young is a father of six who lives in the Joplin area. A Harvard Law graduate, he practiced law on the East Coast before moving to Missouri in 2015 to start a business. After selling the business in 2022, he worked for the company that acquired his company for a period before stepping down to focus full-time on his Senate campaign. Young is running under the Better Party, which was founded in April. It gained ballot access after Young gathered more than 25,000 petition signatures earlier this year.
Why is he running? Young told the News-Leader his campaign has been about two messages. First, Young said the two-party system is failing the American people. He points to the June 27 presidential debate as an example. Second, he said the "dehumanizing" behavior of both parties in the past several years has gone too far.
"I feel like there are these dangerous trends that we have in our politics, especially at the national level. And we need to step up as citizens to turn around these trends. And I think that can't be done within the two parties right now, which is why I'm running as an independent," Young said.
What does he want to do if elected? Young said he would focus on issues on which there is a broad consensus among voters but which have failed to make progress due to partisan warfare. One example he provided was immigration. He told the News-Leader most Americans agree that we need a secure border, but they also acknowledge that the country needs immigrants. He wants to increase the number of immigration judges to move people through the system quicker but also wants to invest in technology and staffing to secure the border.
"It shouldn't be hard to craft policy that acknowledges both of those truths, that we need a secure border and we need legal immigrants," Young said.
Young also wants to address the economy and inflation. He said the national debt and deficit spending contribute to inflation, which is a hard conversation for most politicians.
"We need folks who are really coming to Washington just to address these big issues, and aren't afraid to tackle things that might be politically challenging," Young said.
More: What's on the ballot in Springfield and Greene County in the August primary elections
W.C. Young (Libertarian)
The News-Leader was not able to make contact with Libertarian candidate W.C. Young, of Kansas City, by press deadline. He has not registered a campaign committee with the Missouri Ethics Commission and the News-Leader was unable to locate or verify any online campaign resources.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri Senate primary candidates want to run against Josh Hawley