Missouri's Democratic Senate Primary Heats Up

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Missouri's senior United States Senator, Ol' Roy Blunt, has announced his retirement from public service and will be moving his office on over to K Street in Washington, DC, over the Christmas holidays where he can spend his golden years doing what he really loves - lobbying and looking out for the needs of corporate America.  Blunt's departure from the Senate leaves an opening that Republicans had assumed would be theirs for the taking.

However, Missouri's Republican Party, like the national Republican Party, is still suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome, and at this point in the election process it appears that the party could wind up nominating a candidate in the August primary who would be vulnerable to a strong Democratic opponent.

But the Democratic Party in Missouri was unusually late in smelling the blood in the political waters.   Three high profile Missouri Democrats (former US Senator Claire McCaskill, former Governor Jay Nixon, and former Missouri Secretary of Stated Jason Kander) who all had an outside chance of winning the general election in November if given the right circumstances, decided to sit it out.    The primary race for the Democratic nomination devolved early onto two lesser-knowns:  a former state senator and lackluster campaigner by the name of Scott Sifton, and Lucas Kunce, an ex-marine and political novice who charged out of the gates running a dynamic populist campaign that quickly raised more in small donations that had been accumulated by any other candidate in either party.

The populist messaging of Kunce made some in his party uncomfortable.    There were those who were not crazy about Kunce's left-of-center progressive ideals, and others who agreed with his positions and passions, but felt that his message would not appeal to a majority of voters in November.

All the while, the Missouri GOP senate candidates continued attacking each other relentlessly and at times the entire field of Republican contenders appeared to be on the verge of self-destruction.  A former governor who had been involved in a sex-and-bondage scandal was their frontrunner - and the best the Democrats seemed to be able to field was their B-team.

Then on March 29th, the last day of filing for the August primary in Missouri, two things happened:  Trudy Busch Valentine, a registered nurse and heiress to the St. Louis-based Busch beer fortune, announced her candidacy as a Democrat for the Senate seat that Ol' Roy Blunt was vacating, and Scott Sifton dropped out of the race and announced his support for the beer heiress.  

Now, as the Republicans continue to blunder and self-destruct, the Democrats are gearing up for a potential barn-burner of a primary.   Busch Valentine has the name and the money and the aura of celebrity, and Kunce has the fire and the passion of a street fighter intent upon winning.   Neither candidate has a lock on the nomination at this point.

One topic that is already being discussed in the campaign is that of personal wealth.   Lucas Kunce grew up in modest circumstances and is building his campaign around small donations.  Trudy Busch Valentine grew up in great wealth as one of seven children of Gussie Busch, and although her financials won't be filed until July 3rd, Forbes Magazine in 2020 rated the Busch "family" fortune at $17.6 billion - with none of the individual family members making the list of the 400 richest Americans, a list that bottomed-out at $2.9 billion.  A fair guess would be that Trudy Busch Valentine could self-fund her Senate campaign at whatever level she felt was necessary.

There are plenty of people, and many of whom are Missouri voters, who believe that what the US Senate does not need is another member who is a millionaire or billionaire, and Lucas Kunce can be expected to beat that populist drum throughout the remainder of the campaign.

But besides money and the inherent privilege that it always seems to provide, another thing which is separating the two candidates, at least at this point in the campaign, are the issues which inspire or provoke them.  Lucas Kunce, who has been campaigning for many months, is passionate about helping advance the cause of American workers, small businesses, and voting rights.  He is opposed to the practice of family members of Representatives and Senators working as lobbyists (Hello, Ol' Roy Blunt!), and he opposes corporate PACs.   Kunce is also a friend of public health and the environment:   when a small community in southeast Missouri had a recent fundraiser to replace the lead pipes in the town's water system, Kunce was there actively promoting the cause - and listening.

Trudy Busch Valentine, on the other hand, is being more reserved about where she stands on the issues.   She did issue a bromide about placing people over politics, and she has talked of her history as a candy striper and her service as an appointee on various boards - as well as about growing up at Grant's Farm - but her stance on actual, substantive issues has been less than forthcoming at this point.

As this election heats up - and it WILL heat up - both Busch Valentine and Kunce are going to have to wade into the crowds and tell them how they really feel about things.  Some of it will be messy.  There will be plenty of opportunities to discuss education, race, abortion, access to medical care, voting rights, war, infrastructure, taxes, gay rights, the price of gas, the price of insulin, supply chain failures, and all manner things that are weighing on voters' minds.  But if the candidates want to succeed in their quest to reach the US Senate, they will have to stand tall for their beliefs and be heard - and they will also have to listen.

Missouri voters want to know your positions and plans, Trudy and Lucas, and perhaps most of all we want to know your passions.    Share yourselves with us, and we will share our votes with you - but take us for granted and it will be at your own peril.