Veteran Democrat in the Navy races for Missouri Senate after abrupt retirement

Lucas Kunce, a Navy veteran who works at a nonprofit advocating for overhaul of corporate monopolies, jumped into the Missouri Senate race on Tuesday a day after the senator. Roy BluntRoy Dean BluntTrump Steps Up Battle With Republican Leadership Hillary Clinton Hopes GOP ‘Finds Soul’ Brutal retirement shakes Missouri Senate race MORE (R-Mo.) Announced he would not seek another term next year.

Kunce is joining what could be an overcrowded Democratic primary field to replace Blunt, and relies on his biography as a native Missourian and veteran to gain support for his fledgling campaign.

In an interview with The Hill, Kunce noted his upbringing in a working class family in Jefferson City, recalling how his parents went bankrupt after the birth of his sister.

“The normal person from Missouri grew up as I grew up. We struggled, we were all in a disaster of bankruptcy. So for my family it was medical bills, for someone else it would be a car accident and for another person it could be a house fire. And I lived this fight, I grew up in this fight ”, he declared.

Kunce was able to use the Pell Grants and Scholarships to attend Yale University and University of Missouri Law School before joining the Marines, eventually deploying to Iraq once and Afghanistan twice. He then left the military to work at the American Economic Liberties Project, a nonprofit organization that wants to reduce the power of corporate monopolies.

Kunce draws on this biography to promote what he calls a populist agenda in his campaign, telling The Hill he was disappointed with the amount of money spent overseas as communities in Missouri and the country struggled.

“I see us spending, it’s trillions of dollars to build these other countries, basically for nothing, and my friends and I risk our lives, to build places like Fallujah, Habbaniyah or in Afghanistan Lashkar Gah when we should have spent that money here in cities like Independence where I live now, in St. Louis which has been forgotten by globalization, and then in my hometown of Jefferson City, ”he said.

Among Kunce’s policy proposals is a “Marshall Plan for the Midwest” that he says would invest in well-paying jobs in Missouri, especially in the energy sector.

“We were willing and will always be willing, it seems, to spend trillions of dollars out there fighting for this energy resource when we could actually build the energy of the future right here in the heart of Missouri and create the jobs of the future where we can become an exporter of energy products. This is the kind of thing I want to do. So I want to take our money and not put it in inflated asset bubbles, but rather put it into production, ”he said.

Kunce is the third Democrat to join the Missouri Senate race, after former Senator Scott Sifton and gay rights activist Tim Shepard. Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas also told the Kansas City Star he is considering running for a statewide job.

Kunce said he was “starting conversations” with national groups to gain support, but had already won approval from the Campaign for Gradual Change committee, which has ties to the senator. Elizabeth warrenElizabeth WarrenSenate rejects Sanders’ minimum wage hike Philly City Council calls on Biden to “write off all student loan debt” in first 100 days Hillicon Valley: High alert as new QAnon date approaches Thursday | Biden signals another overthrow of Trump with national security advice | Parler files a new case LEARN MORE (D-Mass.).

“As a Marine and Crusader against corporate monopolies, Lucas Kunce is the kind of Democrat who can win in Missouri – and fight for Missouri families against Big Ag, Big Pharma and other corporations controlling our farmland and our economy, ”Stephanie Taylor, the co-founder of the Campaign for Progressive Change Committee, is expected to announce the membership launch for the organization on Wednesday.

Even with substantial support, winning statewide will be a heavyweight for any Democrat. The Show-Me State has moved hard to the right over the past decade, and the former President TrumpDonald Trump Trump promises ‘More money for RINOS’, instead encouraging donations to his PAC Federal judge judges ‘QAnon shaman’ too dangerous to be released from prison Pelosi says the Capitol riot was the one of the most difficult moments of his career PLUS won the state in double digits in 2016 and 2020.

Whichever Republican emerges as the party’s candidate will be considered the frontrunner in 2022, and the GOP is confident that Blunt’s seat will remain in their hands.

“The NRSC will work tirelessly to ensure that Senator Blunt’s successor maintains his legacy of free enterprise and small government and we occupy this seat. Any candidate who supports the Democrats’ socialist and government agenda will have a hard time finding votes in Missouri, a state that Donald Trump won four months ago by more than 15 points, ”said Senator Rick Scott, chairman of the Republican National Senate Committee (NRSC) said in a statement Monday.

Still, Kunce maintains that a Democrat has a chance of winning statewide in Missouri, noting that voters have supported populist voting measures like those that raise the minimum wage and legalize medical marijuana.

While Republicans have held the advantage in the state in recent years, they will be without Trump in power or on the ticket in 2022, depriving them of a candidate who has been able to soar participation among party loyalists. The former president won Missouri by almost 20 points in 2016, but Blunt won just 3 points.

“What happened in 2016 was Donald Trump was on the ticket, and even in 2016 the very seat I’m running for right now was only lost by the Democrat by three points to an outgoing Republican. People are ready to share their tickets, ”he said. “And if Donald Trump wasn’t on the ticket in 2016, that seat would be held by a Democratic incumbent right now and I wouldn’t even be a candidate.”