SEDALIA, Mo.—Missouri’s US senate race is off to heated start as the general election campaign begins.

Incumbent Republican Josh Hawley and his Democratic challenger Lucas Kunce clashed in the audience at this morning’s Governor’s Ham Breakfast at the Missouri State Fair. Each is calling the other out over not agreeing to debate Thursday. Hawley wanted one sponsored by the Missouri Farm Bureau, while Kunce wanted a moderated debate hosted by NBC affiliates across the state.

Kunce said that debate, hosted by the Farm Bureau, could have violated federal election laws. Hawley did not agree to a televised debate pitched for Thursday by NBC affiliates in the state.

Kunce is leaning into the movement to restore abortion access that is expected to be on the November ballot. Abortion has been all but banned in the state since the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade.

“This issue is important to people everywhere in this state, not just in St. Louis, not just in Boone County, not just in Kansas City, this touches lives everywhere in this state. It’s why it’s gonna win and it’s why we’re gonna win,” Kunce told an audience at Schlafly Bottleworks earlier this month.

He also criticized Hawley’s wife’s role in legal challenges that have come before the U.S. Supreme Court, including most recently involving mifepristone. The court ruled in June that Erin Hawley’s client didn’t have the legal right to sue over the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the abortion medication, or subsequent moves to make it more available.

“My opponent has an odd fixation on my wife, I will say and listen, if he wants to debate her I bet she’d debate him too,” Sen. Hawley said.

Hawley did not mention abortion in his remarks at Stemme Farms in Chesterfield, instead focusing on the impact of illegal immigration, pushing back on transgender issues, and what he said was Kunce’s opposition to fossil fuels.

Hawley supports abortion exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. Current state law only allows for cases involving medical emergencies. He told reporters afterward he supports the ability to put the abortion question on the ballot.