SPRINGFIELD — Minutes before the Missouri U.S. Senate debate was set to begin, U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley made a dramatic entrance into the Historic Fox Theatre in Springfield for a candidate forum before members of the media Friday.
Because the incumbent Republican had declined to RSVP to the Missouri Press Association, which hosted the forum, organizers expected Hawley would be a no-show.
“I didn’t know that he was attending until an adviser, Kyle Plotkin, walked up to me 20 minutes before the forum and said ‘we’re here,’” said Missouri Press Association executive director Mark Maassen.
Hawley shared the stage with Democrat Lucas Kunce, Green Party candidate Nathan Kline and Jared Young, who created his own “Better Party” to get on the ballot. Kline and Young struggled to draw attention in the midst of non-stop and often personal attacks between Kunce and Hawley over issues including abortion, immigration, the economy and Ukraine.
Hawley repeatedly baited Kunce to say whether he’s going to support Kamala Harris for president, but Kunce refused to say whether he will support his party’s presidential nominee. Recent polls show former President Donald Trump with a wide lead over Harris in Missouri.
Abortion
Missourians will decide this fall on a ballot measure that would restore abortion rights after a 2022 Supreme Court decision triggered a Missouri law banning nearly all abortions in the state.
Kunce attacked Hawley, who co-sponsored a 2022 bill banning abortion at 15 weeks, and promised to work to restore abortion rights if elected. “We can’t have no exceptions for rape and incest like Josh Hawley has put into play,” he said.
“I will protect in vitro fertilization,” Kunce added, “something (Hawley) has refused to do twice now on the record. I will protect contraception because I believe that those things are important for everyday Missourians.”
Hawley said he’s in favor of letting states decide on whether to allow abortion bans or not and insisted the proposed ballot initiative to restore abortion rights would also allow for minors to have gender reassignment surgery without parental consent.
Asked to clarify his stance after the debate, Hawley said he’s in favor of exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.
“I don’t favor a national abortion ban,” he said. “I do favor federal restrictions that are reasonable like partial birth abortion.”
Immigration
Kunce argued that border control policies should focus on stopping the flow of fentanyl, increasing funding for U.S. Customs and Border Protection and ending “catch and release,” a practice that allows migrants to be freed into the U.S. while awaiting their immigration cases to be processed, a process that can take years.
Hawley argued for closing the border and reinstating “Remain in Mexico,” a Trump administration policy that requires asylum seekers to wait south of the border while their cases are processed.
Kunce blasted Hawley for joining 50 senators, including four Democrats, opposing a bipartisan border security bill that would’ve expanded the authority of the Department of Homeland Security and made it more difficult for migrants to remain in the U.S. while their asylum request is being processed.
“That’s a terrible bill,” Hawley countered. “So you bet I voted against it.”
Hawley accused Kunce of opposing a border wall, seeking amnesty for people who are in the U.S. unlawfully and for wanting to provide them health care benefits.
“He’s lying again,” Kunce said. “I don’t support amnesty for people who came here the wrong way.”
He suggested that there are better ways to beef up border security than a wall. “If we are in a situation where we got to decide what finances we have and what we’re gonna put them towards, (a border wall is) probably the least effective thing,” Kunce said. “That doesn’t mean that I oppose it.”
Foreign policy
Perhaps the widest gap between Hawley and Kunce was around the topic of Ukraine and the financial and military support it receives from the U.S. as it battles a Russian invasion.
Hawley was blunt when asked whether the U.S. should continue aid to Ukraine.
“No, is the answer to your question,” Hawley said. “I do not support continued funding to Ukraine.”
Kunce, a Marine veteran who deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan, argued the money is an investment to “make sure we do not put boots on the ground somewhere else.”
“Our aid to Ukraine, at $200 billion, is infinitely cheaper than the $6.4 trillion we spent in Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said.
Throughout the debate, the third party candidates tried to present themselves as more palatable alternatives to the major party candidates.
“Voters in Missouri are desperate for another option,” said Young, a businessman. “As you watch these two bicker up here, you can see exactly why people are desperate for a dose of civility and reasonableness and common sense.”
Kline, who previously worked for the City Planning and Development Department of Kansas City, said that as a Green Party nominee, “I’m running against the pay-to-play political system that is sold our democracy to the highest bidder.”
Hawley was elected to his first term in 2018 after defeating former Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill. Kunce is making his second bid for the seat after losing the 2022 Democratic primary election to Trudy Busch Valentine. Valentine went on to lose to then-Attorney General Eric Schmitt in the general election.
On Wednesday, the two major party candidates agreed to a live televised debate scheduled for Oct. 31. The debate is set to air on Missouri Nexstar Media Group stations, including KTVI/KPLR-St. Louis, WDAF-Kansas City, KRBK-Springfield and KSN-Joplin and their digital platforms.
