Kunce Raises Another $2.25M in Bid to Oust Hawley

Hawley raised $2.5M in the same period and has nearly $2M more cash in hand

Apr 16, 2024 at 10:36 am

Senate candidate Lucas Kunce has drawn support from people who want to see Senator Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) defeated. RYAN KRULL

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Democrat Lucas Kunce outraised incumbent Senator Josh Hawley's campaign in the first three months of this year, though Hawley brought in more money overall when taking into consideration his allied fundraising operations.

Last week, Kunce announced that he had pulled in $2.25 million in the first quarter of 2024. Hawley disclosed his campaign's fundraising yesterday, with filings showing he’d brought in $1.9 million over that same period.

However, according to the Kansas City Star, Hawley's total take so far this year grows to $2.5 million when the money raked in by his joint fundraising committee is taken into consideration, narrowly besting Kunce.

Though Hawley’s campaign has more cash on hand, with $5.4 million in the bank, Kunce says his bankroll is nothing to sneeze at.

In a press release touting his haul, Kunce's campaign states that the $3.3 million cash on hand is the most ever by a Missouri Senate candidate trying to knock off an incumbent at this point in the race. It is more than Hawley had at the equivalent period of his 2018 campaign when he was running against then-incumbent Claire McCaskill.

Kunce's campaign also outraised Hawley's for the totality of 2023.

"I’ve been all around this state and one thing is super clear," Kunce said, per the statement. "Missourians are sick and tired of phonies like Josh Hawley who’ve sold them out and keep telling them how to live their lives.”

Kunce counts among his supporters a number of labor unions, which have historically backed Democrats. But, as the Post-Dispatch reported yesterday, the Teamsters did cut Hawley a $5,000 check this cycle.

However, in potentially good news for Kunce, the effort to overturn Missouri’s draconian abortion ban pulled in $4.8 million thus far in 2024. That’s compared to less than $100,000 raised by the anti-abortion group opposing that effort.

St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum reported last week that the abortion referendum will likely be on the ballot in November, coinciding with the general election. Many predict that its presence there could boost Democratic voter turnout.

State Senator Karla May (D-St.Louis), also running as a Democrat to replace Hawley, has raised around $37,000 since announcing her candidacy last year.