Missouri

Editorial: Lucas Kunce is our choice in Missouri’s Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate

Published

2 years ago

July 19, 2024

Editorial: Lucas Kunce is our choice in Missouri’s Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate

The Editorial Board

Two years ago, this Editorial Board strongly recommended that Missouri Democrats nominate centrist attorney and former U.S. Marine Lance Kunce to run against Republican Eric Schmitt for an open U.S. Senate seat. Instead, Democrats picked Trudy Busch Valentine, a brewery heiress whose standard-issue Democratic political persona might have stood a chance in California but never did here.

As a result, Missouri now has one of the most radically right-wing Senate delegations in America. With senior Republican Sen. Josh Hawley up for re-election this year, Democrats have a chance to make the smart choice this time and nominate Kunce to challenge him. We again endorse Kunce in the Aug. 6 Democratic Senate primary.

It’s exceedingly difficult for any Democrat to win statewide in Missouri these days, but if there’s any path at all, it’s with a candidate like Kunce.

A 41-year-old Independence resident, Kunce’s personal story demolishes the stereotype of the latte-sipping, out-of-touch liberal Democrat: Raised in a struggling working-class family, he earned his way up to become a Yale grad with a Mizzou law degree and extensive military and foreign relations experience.

Kunce’s political positions are in line with the mainstream of his party. He is pro-choice to the reasonable degree that existed under Roe v. Wade. He favors red-flag laws and universal background checks to keep guns from those who shouldn’t have them. He supports universal health care.

But with his modest upbringing and centrist political bearings, he is also able to communicate to more conservative rural voters, potentially bridging political polarization to make the case that Democratic policies on issues like health care and taxes are far more helpful to them than the GOP’s plutocratic agenda.

“We’ve got to fundamentally change who has power in this country,” Kunce told us, referring to corporate PACs. Despite his refusal to take corporate donations, he has consistently outraised Hawley in the crucial money battle, while racking up endorsements from both pro-labor and pro-veterans organizations.

When all of that is taken into account, it’s clear that Kunce’s three Democratic primary rivals — state Sen. Karla May, community activist December Harmon and Mita Biswas — wouldn’t stand nearly the chance Kunce does of defeating Hawley in November.

With the presidency now likely to fall to Republican ex-President Donald Trump, it becomes even more urgent for Democrats to hold their Senate majority. And Hawley (who is running unopposed for the GOP nomination next month) adds to the reasons Missourians should help hold that line.

From his political and personal culpability for the events of Jan. 6, 2021, to his insincere populist showboating on the Senate floor, to his outrageous recent defense of Christian nationalism, Hawley has been a frequently embarrassing senator for Missouri — and not an especially effective one.

With recent polls showing Hawley with a single-digit lead over Kunce in a state Trump won by 16 points in 2020, Democrats may in fact have the opportunity for an upset here. They also have an opportunity to seat a senator the state could finally be proud of.

Stay tuned for other endorsements to be published periodically before the Aug. 6 primary election.

Source link

Click to comment

Missouri

Missouri realtors hold statewide rally to vote no on Amendments 4 & 5

Published

10 hours ago

July 9, 2026

Press Room

Missouri realtors hold statewide rally to vote no on Amendments 4 & 5

COLUMBIA — Hundreds of Missouri realtors were in Columbia Thursday to show their opposition to a couple of proposals on the August 4th ballot. The Missouri Association of Realtors hosted a statewide rally against Amendments 4 & 5. Realtors distributed tens of thousands of yard signs, bumper stickers, buttons, and literature.

More than 26,000 Missouri realtors want Missourians to vote no on Amendments 4 & 5. They said the proposals ignore tax restrictions that Missouri voters put into the Missouri Constitution. Amendment 4 would modify the current requirements for a simple statewide majority vote. Amendment 5 would require the phase out of the individual state income tax. Matthew Becker is the Treasurer-Elect for the Missouri Board of Realtors and said Amendment 5 would give too much power to state government.

Becker said, “Amendment 5 is nothing more than a bait and switch. Amendment 5 literally wants to go out and give our legislature a blank checkbook for the next 5 years.”

Jefferson City Realtor Logan Gratz said Amendment 4 favors politicians and destroys majority rule for Missourians.

Gratz said, “Realtors have always been major advocates of property owners, of property rights, good business, and good tax policy.”

Springfield area State Representative Bishop Davidson said Missouri realtors were wrong when they opposed Amendments 4 & 5. Davidson said Amendment 5 would improve Missouri’s tax system.

Davidson said, “Right now, the way our tax structure works is old and archaic. It discourages economic growth. When it comes to Amendment 4, what I would say is protecting our Missouri Constitution is important.”

Governor Mike Kehoe’s communication director sent KRCG a statement that said, “Governor Kehoe supports Amendment 5 because it is a revenue-triggered, constitutionally protected path to eliminating Missouri’s individual income tax, allowing workers to keep more of every paycheck.”

Source link

Missouri

Missouri Farm Bureau to host agritourism conference in Hermann | Fulton Sun

Published

20 hours ago

July 9, 2026

Press Room

Missouri Farm Bureau to host agritourism conference in Hermann | Fulton Sun

Missouri Farm Bureau’s 2026 Agritourism Conference will be held Sunday through Tuesday in Hermann, bringing together agritourism stakeholders to explore opportunities in Missouri’s growing agritourism sector.

The conference usually draws 60-70 attendees annually, said Janet Adkison, director of public affairs and advocacy with Missouri Farm Bureau. This includes farmers, agribusiness leaders, tourism professionals and local economic development partners.

At the conference, participants will see firsthand how farms, wineries, orchards and other value-added agriculture business and rural destinations are connecting tourists and consumers with the state’s agriculture scene, while diversifying revenue streams for farm families and rural communities.

“Whenever folks think of agritourism, they think of a pumpkin patch or a flower farm,” Adkison said. “But agritourism is really anything that gets folks to connect with the agriculture industry. So from your Airbnbs that are out in rural Missouri to the wineries that you see across the countryside, to even a tree farm or just a simple orchard, those are all part of Missouri’s agritourism industry.”

The conference kicks off Sunday with welcome remarks by Missouri Farm Bureau president Garrett Hawkins and a dinner at Hermann Farm Store Barn. Participants will spend the nights at The Inn at Hermannhof.

Monday will include an agritourism bus tour, with stops at Thierbach Orchard, Heritage Valley Tree Farm, White Mule Winery & BNB and Cool Cow Cheese, where participants have the opportunity to speak to business owners.

It will be followed by a farm-to-table, wine-pairing dinner at Hermannhof Winery Court with the Missouri Wine & Grape Board.

“If you are somebody who’s interested in agritourism, you get to hear from somebody who’s been there and done that, and some of the hurdles that they may have experienced along the way,” Adkison said. “You’ll have that exposure both on the tour and also during the programs that they’ll provide on Tuesday.”

On the final day of the conference, participants will attend educational workshops and network with other vendors at Hermannhof Festhalle. Topics discussed in the workshops include marketing, risk management, USDA Rural Development resources for agricultural businesses.

“You’ll hear from some folks as far as the missteps or wins that they had while trying to market and get those crowds to come to the farm, and sometimes something might work, (or) something surprises you and it doesn’t work,” Adkison said.

The conference location rotates around the state each year — past stops have included northeast and west central Missouri, which Adkison said gives the conference a chance to showcase how agritourism looks based on the terrain and agricultural strength of each region.

Find out more about the event or register for it at mofb.org/event/2026-agritourism.

Source link

Missouri

Missouri politicians champion unity, diversity on America’s 250th

Published

1 day ago

July 8, 2026

Press Room

Missouri politicians champion unity, diversity on America’s 250th

Former Missouri Gov. Jeremiah “Jay” Nixon followed in his ancestor’s footsteps, 250 years to the day.

On July 8, 1776, Colonel John Nixon was the first person to publicly read the Declaration of Independence from the steps of the Pennsylvania State House, now Independence Hall.

Jay Nixon, along with other Missouri officials from local, state and national offices, participated in a semiquincentennial celebration at the Historical Greene County Courthouse on July 8, 2026.

“As we commemorate 250 years of American independence, may we remember not only the courage of those who signed the declaration, but also our responsibility to preserve the freedoms they declare,” said Connie Yen, director of the Greene County Archives and Records Center.

While the reading of the Declaration of Independence was the main event, patriotic music from the Salvation Army Band, Springfield Sound, the Patriotic Chorale — as well as the national anthem sung by former U.S. Attorney John Ashcroft and former judge and representative Max Bacon — rang throughout the courthouse’s rotunda, which was packed with people. The music itself, Ashcroft said, was a metaphor for the nation.

“There is something charming about America that doesn’t require that we be uniform. There’s a difference between unity and uniformity. As a matter of fact, you can’t have harmony if you only have one note. You have to sing different notes for things to be harmonic and it’s much more beautiful,” he said. “Maybe America is America not because of uniformity or everybody being in unison, but America may be America because we have disparity, but we’re in harmony. We believe in unity, not uniformity.”

Before reading the Declaration of Independence, Nixon shared part of a speech he gave at Fulton’s Westminster College in August 2025, where he encouraged people to “resist apathy with action” through involvement with civic and faith organizations, and by voting. Like others, he emphasized diversity as the strength of America.

“(We’re) a nation of immigrants. Many of our ancestors fled poverty, injustice and tyranny to build something better. We are the great-great-great-grandchildren of slaves, and those who enslaved them; the first families who inhabited these lands, and those who drove them from it,” Nixon said. “A nation of scrappy strivers stitched together by our ideals, marked by original sins, but redeemed by the courage and sacrifice that saved us from fascism and unleashed freedom and prosperity — the envy of the world. That is the true story we all need to tell, the promise we made to each other that we work every day to keep.”

The reading was followed by an ice cream social, co-hosted by the Greene County Democratic and Republican women’s clubs.

Source link