Republican incumbent Josh Hawley and Democrat Lucas Kunce continued their combative race for the U.S. Senate on Thursday with their final debate before Election Day.
The Halloween night debate came hours after St. Louis actor Jon Hamm was in town to stump for Kunce — another example of how the Hawley-Kunce matchup is attracting attention from high-profile entertainers and athletes.
Hawley and Kunce are running what many consider the most competitive Missouri statewide contest on this year’s ballot. Despite Hawley’s incumbency, Kunce has raised more money. And Hawley has predicted that the race could be more competitive than outside observers think.
The Kunce-Hawley campaign has featured the candidates launching blistering attacks against each other in speeches, ads and even at a memorable confrontation at the Missouri State Fair. And there was also sparring at the debate organized by Missouri’s NextStar stations at KTVI studios in St. Louis.
After being asked about how policy differences have often devolved into personal attacks, Kunce said, “What we've seen in our politics is an absolute degradation, and I think the reason we have that is we don't have people who are dedicated to service anymore.”
“We have swamp creatures all throughout D.C. Josh Hawley is a swamp creature,” said Kunce before noting that Hawley had a number of Washington, D.C.-based jobs when he graduated from college. “When you have a background like that, it's no wonder that you just buy into all the hate and vitriol and you do nothing but attack the other side and don't accomplish anything.”
Asked to respond to Kunce’s comments, Hawley replied, “I think maybe if that's my opponent's attempt to unite the country, we've got a long way to go.”
Hawley then pressed Kunce to address President Joe Biden’s recent comments calling Trump supporters “garbage.” Biden later said he was talking about a comedian at a Trump rally who called Puerto Rico “an island of garbage.”
“I think that it is vital that we treat our opponents with respect, that we don't call them garbage, that we don't use this kind of rhetoric that, frankly, has incited violence,” Hawley said.
Divergence on guns and abortion
The debate touched on a wide range of topics, including immigration, gun control, abortion rights and energy.
On a question about guns, Kunce said that while he supported the 2nd Amendment, he also backed what are known as “red flag” laws that would set up a judicial process to remove firearms from people who may be a threat to themselves or others. He said the country needs “an age limit or some sort of training that goes along with kids getting weapons.”
“As a Marine, I know you don't just give an 18-year-old a firearm and a bunch of ammunition,” Kunce said. “You teach them the weapon safety rules, you teach them how to shoot. You make sure they're responsible.”
Hawley brought up a recent event featuring Kunce and former Illinois U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger where after target shooting, a metal fragment hit a television reporter in the arm. Hawley said, “His incident last week may have convinced me that gun control might be needed for him, but not for other law-abiding citizens in this state.”
After stating he opposes abortion except in the cases involving rape, incest or the life of the mother, Hawley said he won’t vote for Amendment 3 — which would legalize abortion up to fetal viability. He then repeated the contention that the measure would legalize gender transition surgery for minors.
“Amendment 3 goes far beyond what I just said. Amendment 3 goes far beyond abortion,” Hawley said.
Amendment 3 proponents have pushed back against Hawley’s arguments, noting that not all gender transition surgery affects reproduction and there’s nothing explicitly legalizing that procedure in the measure. Kunce said Hawley is “seeing sex change surgeries around every single corner — it’s ridiculous.”
“You want a guy who can't shoot straight? It's this man right here,” Kunce said of Hawley.
Hamm stumps for Kunce in St. Louis
Before the debate, Hamm attended a rally at Delmar Hall for Kunce. He said in an interview with St. Louis Public Radio he was helping Kunce because of what he described as Hawley’s lackluster record in the U.S. Senate.
“Look at the last six years of representation in the United States Senate, and what have you gotten out of that,” Hamm said. “Because the answer is nothing.”
Hamm’s visit comes a few weeks after Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker went on a tour of the state with Hawley.
“We need to preserve so many of the traditional values in this country that seem to be being washed away,” Butker said during his stop in St. Charles County. “So I’m trying to use my platform to stand up for conservative values.”
The election is Tuesday.
Correction: A photo caption incorrectly identified Josh Hawley's political party. He is a Republican.
