Independence, MO — In Lucas Kunce’s strongest fundraising quarter yet, his campaign brought in nearly $2.8 million in Q2 2024 — raising $1 million more than the campaign of his opponent, unpopular incumbent Josh Hawley.
Kunce broke multiple records for a Missouri Senate challenger, including:
- Most ever raised in Q2 of an election year.
Kunce continues to outpace Missouri’s past U.S. Senate challengers. - 2 — Most ever raised in the first 18 months of a cycle.
Kunce has raised $10.5 million since launching in January 2023—nearly $2 million more than Hawley has raised since then. - 3 — Most cash-on-hand entering Q3 of an election year.
In the last 18 months, Kunce banked $4.2 million—nearly half a million more than Kander in Q3 2016. Meanwhile, Hawley only banked $1.8 million in that period — an 80% burn rate this cycle, 85% in Q2 alone.
The record-breaking haul follows major endorsements for Kunce last quarter from UAW, VoteVets, Steelworkers, AFSCME, and Abortion Action Missouri, as well as big crowds of supporters at town halls, union gatherings, and parade routes in every corner of Missouri.
“Working families in Missouri are tired of getting ignored, divided, robbed, controlled, lied to, and left behind by Josh Hawley. They’re tired of having a Senator who wants control-freak politicians like himself to be in charge of what happens in our doctor’s offices, our marriages, our workplaces, and even our own bodies,” said Kunce. “I’m proud to be leading a record-breaking, people-powered, worker-led coalition built right here in Missouri. In this election, we’re going to defeat Josh Hawley, take our power back, and finally invest in Missouri.”
With an average contribution of $34, 98% of donations under $200, more than 300,000 total donations, and donations from every single one of Missouri’s 114 counties and the City of St. Louis, Lucas Kunce has built an unparalleled grassroots coalition in Missouri. And before paid communications have even begun, a recent Emerson poll shows Kunce is already gaining on the incumbent, even winning by 5% among independents, while Hawley lags 10% behind Trump.
Unlike other GOP-held U.S. Senate seats up in 2024, Missouri has a healthy record of split-ticket voters. In Jason Kander’s 2016 race, hundreds of thousands of Kander-Trump voters helped him close the gap from a 14% deficit to a near victory against incumbent Roy Blunt in the final months — and outperforming the Democratic presidential ticket by nearly 16%. And in 2012, Todd Akin’s anti-abortion extremism resulted in his double-digit lead swinging to a massive win for Democrats — outperforming the presidential race by 25%.
Kander himself wrote that not only is Hawley vulnerable — but that Kunce can beat him. And even Donald Trump agreed. After winning only 51% of the vote in his first Senate race—and underperforming Trump’s margin in the previous presidential cycle by 13%—any loss of support for Hawley will jeopardize his chances of being reelected. So getting caught robbing Missouri taxpayers and being the least popular Senate GOP incumbent running in 2024 should have already given Hawley cause for concern.
But now, in his first election since the Dobbs decision, Hawley will be forced to share the ballot with a massively energizing ballot initiative to end a total abortion ban Hawley supports and restore reproductive freedoms that Hawley helped to end. And while voters are more motivated than ever by issues like IVF, contraception, and abortion, Hawley has built a career—and even a family business—on banning them all. In the last six years, he’s made a terrifying amount of progress in that mission.
Hawley believes his mission to outlaw all abortions is as important and brave as the efforts of American abolitionists to end slavery — so while similarly vulnerable Republicans like Ted Cruz and Rick Scott have made public attempts to moderate their positions, Hawley has made it clear he has no intention of doing the same. Hawley even publicly rebuked Trump, J.D. Vance, and the GOP Platform, and proudly declared himself to be an extremist well outside the norm of mainstream Republican voters.
No U.S. Senator has a worse record on reproductive rights than Hawley.
Now Hawley is on the ballot after polling found: “The share of voters who say abortion is the most important issue facing their state in Missouri is higher than any state poll we have conducted in the past year.”
“Lucas Kunce has the resources, message, grassroots support, and record of service that it takes to mount a real challenge against a strong incumbent Senator,” said campaign manager Caleb Cavarretta. “But this November, Lucas Kunce isn’t taking on a strong incumbent Senator — he’s taking on Josh Hawley. And he’s taking this Senate seat back for real Missourians.”