There are two candidates running for the U.S. Senate from Missouri who would continue to support Ukraine and our North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies if they were elected. Neither of them is named Josh Hawley.
Republican voters who still care about Ukraine, NATO, or even bringing federal funds back home to Missouri, should consider voting against Hawley, the incumbent Republican senator, and choose either his Democratic challenger, Lucas Kunce, or Jared Young, a conservative who is running under the banner of the Better Party.
Polls indicate there are about 10% of Missouri Republicans who would consider themselves Ronald Reagan Republicans, Nikki Haley Republicans, or even Jack Danforth Republicans. These Republicans continue to believe in a strong U.S. foreign policy and are pro-Ukraine and pro-NATO while rejecting isolationism and nationalism.
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While this group of the electorate is small, it could be electorally mighty.
Four of the five candidates running for the U.S. Senate in Missouri participated in a debate last month. In addition to the three mentioned above, the Green Party鈥檚 Nathan Kline also participated. (The fifth candidate is W.C. Young, who was not on stage.)
The candidates were asked if they supported continued U.S. military and financial support for Ukraine, which has been at war since Russia鈥檚 Vladimir Putin launched his unprovoked invasion in early 2022. Kunce and Jared Young both said they would continue to support Ukraine. Kline said he wouldn鈥檛.
Hawley reiterated his longstanding opposition to continued funding for Ukraine 鈥 and repeated a false choice he has presented before: 鈥淸A]s long as nuclear radiation victims in this state are not compensated, I am not going to vote for a dime more funding for Ukraine.鈥
He鈥檚 referring to the failure of Congress to pass an expanded Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) to compensate American victims of radioactive waste left over from World War II and the Cold War, including many victims in the St. 不良研究所导航网址 area. The Senate passed an expansion of the compensation program this year, introduced by Hawley and Democratic Sen. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, but the bill stalled in the House. Current RECA funding ended on June 7.
While Hawley has been a strong advocate for Missourians affected by nuclear radiation, as a senator, he should be able to bring money back to the state for more than one issue at a time.
Hawley and fellow Republican Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt both voted against the $61 billion aid package for Ukraine that Congress approved back in April. The majority of that military aid not only stays here in America, but provides money and jobs for Missourians. Missouri has already received $600 million in Ukraine aid, which is being spent in St. Charles and West Plains to build weapons systems.
Kunce and Young both spoke to me and shared their experiences and philosophies behind their support.
Kunce joined the Marine Corps after attending law school at Mizzou and served 13 years in active duty. His final tour was with the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, where he worked with the National Security Council, State Department, Department of Homeland Security, FBI, CIA, and other agencies to stop the proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and missile technology around the globe.
He went on to work with the Joint Staff as an international negotiations officer, where he oversaw U.S. military compliance with our international arms control obligations and negotiated arms control agreements at the National Security Council, NATO, and with non-allied countries like Russia at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
While in that role, Kunce understood and articulated the United States鈥 determination to maintain peace in Europe despite Russian aggression through coalition building with our allies.
Jared Young earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in Middle East Studies and Arabic and a law degree from Harvard. 鈥淲e鈥檝e allowed ourselves to reach a point where our allies don鈥檛 trust us, and our enemies don鈥檛 fear us,鈥 he told me.
鈥淭hat has to change. Russia, Iran, and China are actively working to attack American interests all over the world. They will continue to push the envelope until we demonstrate that there are real consequences for their actions. With that in mind, it鈥檚 critical that we help Ukraine in its conflict with Russia and Israel in its multi-front conflict with Iran. It鈥檚 also critical that we re-invest in our military, and we repair and strengthen our relationships with our allies in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.鈥
Hawley has been vocal about his opposition to continued Ukraine funding. I reached out to his office but his campaign didn鈥檛 respond with a comment.
The minority of Missouri Republican voters who understand the importance of pushing back on Russia鈥檚 encroachment into Ukraine and the critical nature of aiding our NATO allies have two serious options in November: Lucas Kunce or Jared Young.
Schmidt is a Post-Dispatch columnist and Editorial Board member. SchmidtOpinions@gmail.com. On X:@SchmidtOpinions.