Joe Maxwell endorses Lucas Kunce, blasts Josh Hawley for using farmers as campaign props
Wednesday, March 22, 2023
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Independence, MO – Today, former Lieutenant Governor Joe Maxwell, a veteran and leader in the fight to defend American farmers, endorsed Lucas Kunce for U.S. Senate.
“For far too long career politicians like Josh Hawley have condoned transnational corporations’ takeover and consolidation of our agriculture and food system, and foreign entities buying up our farmland. The level of consolidation and takeover is sucking the economic viability out of our rural communities and is a threat to our national security. Josh Hawley’s only record on this issue is using Missouri farmers as campaign props and aligning with the same giant multinational corporations who’ve been stripping our state for parts,” said Joe Maxwell, an influential advocate for American farmers and the former Lt. Governor of Missouri.
“Missouri farmers and rural communities deserve a fighter in the U.S. Senate who is the real deal — a warrior with a proven record of fighting for them. There’s only one candidate for U.S. Senate in Missouri who farm families can count on to fight for them, and it’s Lucas Kunce. I’ve won statewide as a Democrat. I know what it takes, and Lucas Kunce has what it takes to build the coalition needed to win in Missouri.”
“I’m proud to have earned the support of a proven fighter for Missouri’s working families,” said Kunce. “Lt. Governor Maxwell has been on the frontlines of the fight for Missouri farm families and American farmers, both in and out of office. Our campaign is building the coalition we need to boost turnout, to persuade voters, and to win statewide — all so we can run Josh Hawley out of the U.S. Senate and take this seat back for everyday Missourians.”
Josh Hawley’s Record – A Failure To Stand Up For Missouri Farmers
In his 2016 campaign for Attorney General, a Josh Hawley PAC notably attacked Hawley’s GOP primary rival over Chinese ownership of farmland, in what long-time Hawley advisor James Harris described as, “a lethal issue that resonates with Missouri Republicans.”
But as Missouri’s Attorney General and U.S. Senator, Josh Hawley has been completely silent on the “lethal issue” of foreign ownership of farmland — despite the constant pleas of family farmers and advocates for rural Missouri, and even the efforts of his GOP colleagues.
Silent, that is, until he was facing an election challenge from a 13-year veteran Marine officer—Lucas Kunce—with a real record on the issue and experience standing up to Big Ag corruption. Kunce has even played a critical role in Right-to-Repair efforts.
Between his 2016 campaign and his current re-election campaign, Josh Hawley has also been aligning himself with the Big Ag special interests who’ve been allowing foreign corporations to continue gobbling up our farmland. He even campaigned for one of the key supporters of the 2013 repeal of a Missouri law banning foreign ownership.
It’s campaign season once again for Josh Hawley — and he wants us to seriously believe the threat of foreign ownership of farmland only became “abundantly clear after” a literal Chinese spy balloon made its way over Missouri.
So now Josh Hawley has filed a bill that amounts to little more than a campaign prop — legislation that would let many of the worst multinational corporations off with a free pass to continue devastating family farmers and Missouri agriculture. Like Brazil-owned JBS, whose domination of American pork has contributed toward 90% of Missouri hog producers being shut down. Or German-owned Bayer AG whose purchase of Missouri-based Monsanto led to layoffs and the gutting of one of the world’s most influential businesses in agriculture and the seed industry. Hawley’s bill would even allow adversaries like Russia and Saudi Arabia to continue buying up our land, adding even greater threats to American infrastructure, food supply chains, and national security.