Bless His Heart: Missouri Democrat Debuts Southern Accent After Launching Senate Bid
2nd February 2023
There’s a consultant-driven playbook for candidates: Ditch the khakis for jeans, roll up your sleeves, and start talking like your constituents. Missouri Democrat Lucas Kunce, who recently announced a Senate bid, may have taken that last piece of advice a little too far.
Since launching his campaign on Jan. 6, Kunce speaks with a soft Southern drawl. The accent was on full display in his campaign launch video, with one scene featuring a meditative Kunce sitting on a porch ripping Sen. Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) for his “banker daddy.”
That campaign ad was followed up by appearances on MSNBC where Kunce, sitting in front of his collection of vintage Magic: The Gathering trading cards, he said “Missourians don’t tolerate cowards and frauds.” Listeners familiar with Kunce, who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate last cycle, will observe that he sounds notably different from his time as a staffer for the left-wing American Economic Liberties Project just two years ago.