WENTZVILLE, Mo. — Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Lucas Kunce was in St. Charles County Thursday night, rallying with United Auto Workers members in Wentzville with less than two weeks until Election day and one week before the only televised debate he’ll have against the incumbent, Sen. Josh Hawley.

As he’s done elsewhere on the campaign trail, Kunce attacked Hawley’s attempt to embrace organized labor in recent years, citing Hawley’s previous support for “Right to Work” laws that would have banned compulsory union dues for public and private sector union employees. Voters rejected it in 2018 and Hawley has said within the past year that the no vote was the right decision.

Kunce highlighted Hawley’s votes against the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, and the inability to bring congressionally directed spending back to the state.

Kunce’s campaign is trying to move past an embarrassing campaign incident. On Tuesday, at an event at a shooting range with former Illinois U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, shrapnel from Kunce’s rifle hit a reporter covering the event. Kunce, a Marine veteran, treated the wound before the reporter was checked out at a local hospital for minor injuries.

Hawley and his campaign have lampooned the incident in social media posts and cable news appearances ever since.

Kunce made no mention of it in his remarks to the labor audience but in a brief interview said he was glad the reporter was recovering well. 

Hawley and Kunce will square off on Halloween night for a debate sponsored by the Nexstar Media Group in St. Louis.

Crockett rallies for Budzinski in Metro East

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill.—With early voting already underway and election day less than two weeks away, where and how time and resources are spent can be critical decisions in any campaign. In that context, political observers may wonder about what unfolded in East St. Louis Wednesday. U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski brought fellow freshman Rep. Jasmine Crockett, the St. Louis area native who now represents a Dallas area district in Congress, to headline a re-election rally. Crockett is a rising star in the Democratic party and a national co-chair of Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.

Budzinski’s 13th district weaves from Springfield down into the Metro East with a map that was drawn favorably for Democrats in the last round of redistricting. She faces Republican Joshua Lloyd, of Virden, who ran as a write-in Independent candidate in a Chicago-area congressional district in 2022.

“Her seat doesn’t look like mine. She’s got a real fight on her hands,” Crockett insisted of Budzinski’s contest, in an interview with Spectrum News.

With a favorable national map for Republicans looking to retake control of the Senate, Democrats are making a push to overcome the GOP’s small margin for control of the House. But in the St. Louis region, national Democratic party groups have all but ignored Missouri’s open third district seat, where former State Sen. Bob Onder is a running in a GOP-friendly district against Democrat Bethany Mann. Onder was in Texas this week campaigning for other Republican House candidates.

National Democrats also don’t appear to be investing in Ray Hartmann’s challenge against second district incumbent Ann Wagner. 

But Crockett, who also visited her former school roots in the St. Louis area as part of her stop, said she hoped boosting Budzinski serves as “that cherry on the top.”

“We know that this has been the most unproductive congress ever and so our pathway to making sure that we can hold down the majority runs right through East St. Louis,” Crockett said.

Wednesday’s rally also hoped to boost turnout in a Metro East statehouse race that has drawn attention. Democrats are trying to send LaToya Greenwood back to Springfield. Greenwood represented the 114th district from 2017 to 2022 before losing the seat by around 2,000 votes to Kevin Schmidt, of Belleville. It was an unlikely pickup for Republicans trying to loosen the Democratic party’s grip on the General Assembly. 

“Votes do matter. I lost the last election cycle,” Greenwood said, believing in part that it was due to low voter turnout. “The endorsement and their support mean the world to me but not only me but the people who came out today.”

In an interview Wednesday, Schmidt didn’t sound surprised by the rally. He said cost of living issues and taxes are going to be keys in the contest, and that the way Illinois Republicans will build more momentum is by running on a populist message.

“It’s taken awhile to become a deep blue state and it’s gonna take awhile to become more balanced. Nothing’s instant. It’s a marathon.”

Absentee vote by mail concerns

In Missouri, the deadline to apply for an absentee ballot by mail has now passed. If you’ve received one and are still holding onto it by Saturday (Oct. 26), election officials want you to think twice before putting it in the mail to return.

Pritzker on the trail

Don’t expect to see Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on the Missouri side of the river in the closing days of the campaign in support of Amendment 3, which looks to restore abortion rights. When asked if he’d been approached about campaigning for it in person, a Pritzker campaign spokesperson said the governor has been focused on travel in swing states as a surrogate for the Harris-Walz ticket.

“Think Big America, the governor's organization, is supporting the initiative. Thanks to Gov. Pritzker’s leadership, Illinois is an oasis for reproductive rights, and we look forward to Missouri joining us on November 5th when voters pass Amendment 3.”

Think Big America donated $250,000 to Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, the campaign committee supporting Amendment 3.

Election security

State and federal officials are urging the public to seek out trusted sources for information about the election and the voting process. Federal cybersecurity officials held a summit with chief election officers from around the Midwest, including Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft earlier this month.

While there are concerns about physical threats–Ashcroft’s office dealt with a suspicious package delivered there last month–federal authorities say they are also concerned about efforts from foreign adversaries like Russia, China and Iran, who are using AI, social media and websites masquerading as legitimate news sources to spread misinformation and sow discord about the security of U.S. elections. 

In a briefing with reporters Thursday,  Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Jen Easterly tried again to dispel the notion that someone could flip a machine’s votes.

“I do not believe it is possible for a malicious actor to hack into voting machines in a way that would have a material impact on the outcome of the federal presidential election, certainly not without being detected and why I believe that election infrastructure has never been more secure,” she said, reminding the public that voting machines are not connected to the internet and that 97% of the machines come with a paper trail that can be used to verify accuracy.

“We run elections for the people of the states; we run elections for our government because it is how ‘we the people’ decide that our Republic will move forward,” Ashcroft said in a statement earlier this month. “No matter who wins or loses, or which issues pass or fail, at the end of the day, the American people can rest assured knowing that they were a part of the decision process and that their votes counted and that the votes made a difference.”

Separately, Ashcroft is urging voters to take caution when third-party groups ask for personal information. One county clerk told his office that a voter came in expecting to avoid long lines at the start of no-excuse absentee voting because they’d set an appointment. But there was no appointment.

“We are seeing a rise in the number of third-party groups claiming to provide information – sometimes misinformation, to voters. Not only are you handing over your personal data without having any way of knowing how it might be used in the future, but appointment voting is not an option,” Ashcroft said. 

Also this week, the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Missouri announced two Assistant U.S. Attorneys will lead the local office’s efforts when it comes to handling election day complaints related to voting rights violations, threats of violence against election officials, and election fraud. 

“The franchise is the cornerstone of American democracy.  We all must ensure that those who are entitled to the franchise can exercise it if they choose, and that those who seek to corrupt it are brought to justice,” said U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming. AUSAs Hal Goldsmith and Jennifer Roy will be working while polls are open on Nov. 5 and will be available by phone to the public at  314-539-7733.

Anyone with cases involving violence or intimidation are still urged to call 911 first.

Marijuana dispensary votes

Two years after Missouri voters elected to amend the state constitution to legalize recreational marijuana, voters in two St. Louis County cities will decide if their communities will allow recreational dispensaries to remain.

The November 2022 ballot language allows for cities to hold public votes in presidential election years, with a 60% majority required for passage. The cities of Des Peres and Olivette each passed legislation authorizing the vote. It’s unclear if any other cities in the state are doing the same. Olivette currently has no recreational dispensaries, while Des Peres has one, Root 66, located on Manchester Road.

If the measure is approved, the dispensary would still be able to sell medical marijuana products.