This was never part of my plan.

Will you please give me a moment to explain? [Lucas Kunce for U.S. Senate] Hey {NAME}, it’s Lucas Kunce. I wanted to take some time today to tell you a little bit about where I come from and what got me into this race. Will you please give me a moment to explain? As a kid from a working-class neighborhood in the heart of Central Missouri, running for U.S. Senate was never part of my plan. [Lucas as a child, sitting with his family on the porch of his childhood home.]( Like so many Americans, my parents lived paycheck-to-paycheck — so when my little sister was born with a heart condition, the medical bills bankrupted us. Maxed-out credit cards and no money left, times had never been tougher. But we weren’t alone — our community took care of us. When my parents had to take my sister to the hospital in St. Louis, our neighbors and friends took my siblings and me into their homes. And when we couldn’t afford groceries, they brought more casserole and lasagna by the house than we could ever hope to eat. That’s the Missouri I grew up in. Their support helped send me to college, and after that I joined the Marines to honor everything they had done for me and my family growing up. When I came home between tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, one of the hardest things was seeing what was happening back in my old neighborhood. It was a community picked for parts — the local corner store boarded up, my first family house bulldozed to the ground. Here’s all that’s left of it: [The empty lot where Lucas' childhood home once stood.]( While all of us were risking our lives building up towns like Habbaniyah, Fallujah, and Herat, career politicians like Josh Hawley let our country waste away. They spent trillions on bailouts, tax breaks, and subsidies for the industries that stripped our communities for parts — like Wall Street, Big Pharma, and Big Oil — and then told us they can’t figure out how to invest even a fraction of that into building up our own country and investing in our own people. I’m running for U.S. Senate because it’s time everyday Missourians — people who know how to take care of each other — called the shots in our country. [And today, I’m asking for your support to make it happen.]( [Lucas standing with leaders from the Missouri Bootheel on Martin Luther King Day weekend, January 2021.]( If you’re ready to take back power from the massive corporations and corrupt, career politicians who’ve torn up our country, I need you on this team. [Can you add a $10 donation right now so we’ll have the resources we need to get this message in front of voters and stand up to Josh Hawley? I don’t take any money from corporate PACs, so I mean it when I say anything makes a big impact.]( If you've stored your info with ActBlue Express, we'll process your contribution instantly: [Contribute $10]( [Contribute $25]( [Contribute $30]( [Contribute $50]( [Contribute $100]( [Contribute $250]( [Give another amount]( Thank you for everything, {NAME}. Lucas Kunce [Donate]( [Like on Facebook]( [Follow on Twitter]( [Follow on Instagram]( Paid for by Lucas Kunce for Missouri This email was sent to [{EMAIL}](#). Email is the most important way we keep in touch with people like you. But, if you'd like to receive fewer emails, [you can do so here](. If you need to remove yourself from our email list, [click here to unsubscribe](. Mail us: PO BOX 1240 Independence, MO 64050. Use of military rank, job titles, and photographs in uniform do not imply endorsement by the Department of the Navy or the Department of Defense.