Supporters of Democratic Missouri U.S. Senate candidate Lucas Kunce filled the pavilion and covered the lawn of the backyard at Mother's Brewing Company in Springfield on Friday.
Kunce held a rally as he continues his campaign ahead of the November 5 Election, which pits him against incumbent Republican Senator Josh Hawley.
He spent a good amount of time talking about why Hawley is wrong for Missouri. The rally followed a forum by the Missouri Press Association in which Hawley used much of his time to talk about why he feels Kunce is the wrong choice.
At the forum, Hawley said about a ban on fossil fuels, "It will devastate this state. It might be fine for the green energy wackos, but it will not work in the state of Missouri." He claimed there would be no more gas and diesel and that there would be "no way to harvest the crops, no way to plant the crops."
Kunce called Hawley's claims that he wants to ban all fossil fuels and take away Missourians pickup trucks lies and said, "we know what this is, right? That's fear, people, because he knows what's coming for him."
Kunce promised to codify Roe vs. Wade if elected to the U.S. Senate. He also pledged to be a senator for the working class.
"I'll promise you right now, I will be the deciding vote to pass the protecting the right to organize act so we never have to worry about 'right to work' in this state again," said Kunce.
Kunce also promised to stand up for pregnant workers and to fight for sick leave for everyone.
"You shouldn't have to choose between your life and your job," he said. "You shouldn't have to choose between having a kid and your job or your baby and your job, never."
He talked about his family's struggles when he was young and his sister was born with a heart condition. The family had to file for bankruptcy, he said, but neighbors supported them and took Kunce and his siblings in when their parents had to take their sister to St. Louis for medical care.
Kunce also talked about his time serving in the Marines, which included 13 years on active duty. And about being deployed to Iraq.
"I led a police training team in Irag," he said. "I had 12 Marines and a Navy corpsman, running dozens of missions outside the wire. My job was to plan those missions and execute them down the roads of Fallujah, Habbaniyah and Ramadi and bring everybody home safe, which, thank God, we did."
Kunce was deployed to Afghanistan twice.
