'A Bloody Republican Primary'

Missouri, which once elected a dead man to the Senate, is living up to its reputation for messy elections

- By Steve Friess

AS ALLEGATIONS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE AGAINST the already scandal-ridden GOP front runner Eric Greitens roil the Republican field, things are looking up for Democrats in Missouri’s wild race for the U.S. Senate. That includes Lucas Kunce, a 39-year-old square-jawed war veteran with progressive views and a folksy manner, who wasted no time on a recent campaign tour insisting to skeptical crowds that, yes, against all odds in this deeply red state, he really can win—first, the Democratic nomination in Missouri’s primary on August 2 and then in the general election on November 8.

“We started 20 points behind Eric Greitens, and in a Republican poll a couple months ago, we were just 1.9 points behind him,” Kunce bellowed at a midday rally last month in scorching 100-degree heat during a swing through the state’s rural southeast Bootheel region. “And that was before the child abuse and spousal abuse allegations came out.”

Kunce, dressed in a simple tee-shirt that suited both his populist image and a physique honed by 13 years in the Marines, then added: “Our message is making a difference. It’s actually reaching people.”