Republican incumbent Josh Hawley faces Democrat Lucas Kunce for the U.S. Senate seat in Missouri

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Voters in Missouri will decide Tuesday whether to give Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley a second term or elect Democrat Lucas Kunce, a lawyer who served in the Marines.

Hawley is considered the heavy favorite to win in the state, where no Democrats hold statewide office and Republicans control both the House and Senate.

But Kunce fights back, outdoing Hawley and securing the support of Missouri-born celebrities John Goodman, Jon Hamm and Andy Cohen.

Kunce served in the Marines for 13 years, with deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq. After active duty, he served as national security director at the antitrust nonprofit American Economic Liberties Project. He also unsuccessfully sought the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination in 2022.

He came to attention after a reporter was hit by a small piece of flying metal slightly injured at a private shooting range during one of his campaign rallies last month. The reporter told law enforcement that he barely noticed the injury at first and continued to report on the incident after Kunce bandaged him.

Hawley said Kunce and other shooters were too close to metal targets, just 10 yards, to safely fire AR-15 rifles. Kunce said a National Rifle Association training advisor set up the range and that he was “glad the reporter was OK and was able to continue reporting.”

Kunce’s campaign focused on criticizing Hawley as the leader of the January 6, 2021 push Block the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory in 2020.

A photo of Hawley standing with his fist raised before the hordes outside the Capitol that day initially sparked bipartisan backlash.

Top Missouri Republican donors and businesses initially pledged never to donate to Hawley again. Former staffers of two-term Senator Claire McCaskill, who ousted Hawley, formed the Just Oust Seditious Hacks PAC to organize against Hawley. His former GOP mentor, former U.S. Sen. John Danforth of Missouri, said supporting Hawley was “the worst decision I’ve ever made in my life.”

Kunce announced his intention to run for Hawley’s seat on the anniversary of the insurrection in 2023. He aired an ad highlighting the photo of Hawley’s raised fist as well as video footage of Hawley running through the Capitol later that day.

But it’s unclear whether the message will resonate with Republican voters in Missouri, where Trump won by wide margins in 2016 and 2020.

For his part, Hawley stood by and celebrated his actions. His campaign sells mugs with a photo of his raised fist.

Hawley and Kunce clashed repeatedly throughout the campaign, starting with a tense confrontation at the Missouri State Fair in August. The two stood inches apart and debated whether to have a debate, with Kunce calling Hawley “weird” and “cartoonish” and Hawley cursing at one point.

Hawley later made a surprise appearance at a September Missouri Press Association debate, joining Kunce.

The two split over issues such as abortion, with Hawley opposed to a Constitutional amendment on Tuesday’s ballot that would enshrine abortion rights in the state. Kunce supports the amendment.

Democrats hope the abortion amendment will motivate voters and help them regain political relevance in Missouri.

Missouri voters first elected Hawley to the Senate in 2018, ousting McCaskill, one of the last Democrats to hold statewide office in Missouri. He previously served as Missouri’s attorney general.

Hawley is known for this in the US Senate Efforts to ban TikTokLegislation to Compensate Americans are exposed to radiationand for Grilling Ketanji Brown Jackson, US Supreme Court nominee.