I’m humbled to have the endorsement of the Missouri AFL-CI O.

Will you please give me a moment to explain why this election-winning coalition matters so much to our campaign? [Lucas Kunce for U.S. Senate] {NAME} — earlier than ever before for a U.S. Senate challenger in Missouri, working people are uniting behind our movement to replace Josh Hawley. In a moment, I’m going to tell you why the support of this election-winning coalition matters in this race. But first, let me share a little more about my background and why I’m running for this seat: [Statement from the Missouri AFL-CIO explaining why they're proud to stand with Lucas in Missouri's U.S. Senate race.]( [CHIP IN TO ELECT LUCAS KUNCE →]( I grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Jeff City, right in the middle of Missouri. Like most Missourians, my family lived paycheck-to-paycheck — so when my little sister was born with a heart condition, medical bills bankrupted us. [Photos of Lucas, his siblings, and childhood friends in their old neighborhood in Jefferson City.]( But we weren’t alone. When my parents had to take my sister to get surgeries at a hospital over 100 miles away, 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. The support from our community motivated me to work hard, stay focused on school, and run on the cross-country team. That all helped me get into college, which I could afford thanks to a Pell Grant and scholarships from people around town. I got to keep running there too. [Photo of Lucas at his high school graduation from Jefferson City High School. Photo of Lucas running cross country in college.]( After college and law school, I joined the Marines to honor and serve the community that had done so much for me. I was active duty for 13 years. Deployed to Iraq once, Afghanistan twice. Then the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, where I'd go on to help lead arms control negotiations with NATO and Russia. [Military photos of Lucas with disclaimer.]( In the Marines, I learned what service for your country really means: Doing the right thing — even when you’re far away from home — and never forgetting the community you signed up to serve. But for every tour of duty, I also learned just how little service meant to corrupt elites like Josh Hawley. I led a police training team in Iraq, running missions outside the wire through Habbaniyah, Fallujah, and Ramadi. Near our camp, a burn pit bathed us in toxic fumes for months. And when we came back home, politicians like Hawley turned their backs on us. [Headlines about Josh Hawley's failure to vote for funding for veterans' health care.]( Between deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, I was stationed at Camp Pendleton. While our politicians let Wall Street banks gamble away our economy, I fought to protect service members from predatory scams and illegal foreclosures. I deployed twice to Afghanistan. Learned Pashto. Investigated corruption. I saw how lies from corrupt leaders in Washington cost us two decades, $2 trillion, and nearly 2,500 American lives. Then at the Pentagon, I saw how Big Oil bought off our politicians so dictators, war criminals, and a handful of corporate executives got to decide how much Americans pay for energy — while authoritarian oligarchs in China start to dominate renewable energy. But between tours, one of the hardest things was coming back home and seeing what was going on in my old neighborhood. The community I had signed up to serve was stripped for parts. The corner store boarded up. Our first family home even bulldozed down. Here’s all that’s left of it: [An empty lot where Lucas' childhood home once stood.]( The whole time politicians like Hawley kept voting to send Marines like me overseas to fight pointless wars, they were letting their corporate mega-donors gut our communities back home. And now they don’t just attack our way of life, but also the democracy I swore to defend. [Photos of Josh Hawley raising his fist outside the Capitol on January 6th and running out the back door just a few hours later.]( On January 6, 2021, Josh Hawley showed us he’s a fraud and a coward who will cut and run at the first sign of trouble. I’m running for U.S. Senate because Missourians deserve a senator who’s willing to stand and fight for them. They deserve a warrior for working people — and I'm ready to serve. Now we’ve united on-the-ground leaders, workers, and everyday people across Missouri into a record-breaking movement to take on Josh Hawley. This is the same coalition that defeated an anti-union “Right-to-Work” scam statewide by 67.5%-32.5% in 2018. [The Missouri AFL-CIO is an election-winning coalition in Missouri - defeating 'Right-to-Work' in 2018 by more than 20 points.]( The national GOP and corporate elites are afraid of the movement we're building because this is our chance to defeat Josh Hawley — and they know we’re not going to waste it. So I have to ask: [Will you chip in $10 or anything you can afford right now to help us flip this U.S. Senate seat and take back power for everyday Missourians? I’m not taking a cent from corporate PACs in this race, which means I’m relying on real people like you to power this campaign forward every step of the way.]( 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]( Together, we can take back our power from corrupt politicians like Josh Hawley and finally put real working people in charge of our country again. Thanks for always having my back, {NAME}. Let’s get to work, 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.