Lucas Tyree Kunce (/kuːnts/ KOONTS; born October 6, 1982)[1] is an American attorney, Marine veteran, and politician.

He was the Democratic nominee for the 2024 United States Senate election in Missouri, losing to Republican incumbent Josh Hawley.

As of 2025, he manages a hybrid PAC called Heartland Patriots and has stated he will return to active duty in the Marine Corps.

[6][7] His father worked for the Missouri Department of Conservation, while his mother retired to care for his sister, who had heart problems and underwent multiple open-heart surgeries.

[14][15] In 2007, Kunce joined the United States Marine Corps as a judge-advocate (military lawyer) in the Judge Advocate division.

[22] After 13 years in the Marines,[23] Kunce joined the American Economic Liberties Project as director of national security in August 2020.

[33] In July, his campaign mailed a cease-and-desist letter to primary opponent Trudy Busch Valentine for allegedly airing advertisements "containing these deliberate lies with actual malice toward Mr. Kunce in an effort to deceive Missouri voters".

[35] On January 6, 2023, Kunce announced his second run for U.S. Senate in a bid to unseat one-term incumbent Josh Hawley.

[40] Kunce attended a Missouri Press Association debate alongside Hawley and other minor candidates on September 20.

[49] In an opinion article for The Joplin Globe, he voiced opposition to a National Animal Identification System, claiming it was written to "line the pockets of Big Ag while screwing independent farmers".

[14] He has voiced his support for abolishing corporate PACs[51] and requiring Congress to disclose when a piece of legislation is written by a lobbyist or special interest group.

[53] Kunce has condemned the war on drugs, citing the taxpayer cost, high number of arrests for nonviolent offenses, and disproportionate impact on Black Americans.

[55] In an opinion article for The American Prospect, Kunce voiced his support for a rapid decarbonization plan costing $4.5 trillion, completely ending the use of fossil fuels in the energy and transportation sectors.

He said the primary motivation for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq was to secure their oil supplies and that ending U.S. reliance on fossil fuels would reduce military intervention.

[28] Kunce has called his economic proposals collectively a "Marshall Plan for the Midwest", aiming to reshore manufacturing jobs and reduce funding of foreign military interventions in favor of domestic infrastructure and industry investment.

[62] He supports the 2024 bipartisan border bill in the U.S. Senate written by Republican James Lankford and Democrat Chris Murphy.

"[59] He has said the 2021 Taliban takeover of Afghanistan was "inevitable from the very beginning" and blamed defense contractors, corrupt Afghan commanders, and U.S. politicians who "used the war to get into office" for prolonging the conflict.

[65] In an opinion article for The American Prospect, Kunce said he recognized China as a serious "economic challenge" and that it was "hacking [American] dedication to self-interest", citing a 1996 deal between the U.S.-based Loral Space & Communications and the Chinese state-owned Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation that quickened the development of Chinese missile equipment in violation of the Arms Export Control Act as an early example of the issue.

As other examples, he cited and condemned the 2001 Chinese accession into the World Trade Organization and the 2012 acquisition of AMC Theatres by Chinese-based Wanda Group.

The industries would include manufacturing of printed circuit boards, semiconductors, telecommunication devices and products on the solar value chain.

[69] He has condemned the consolidation and offshoring of U.S. military-industrial manufacturing as a threat to national security, saying it can lead to kickbacks or market failure.

He said the primary motivation for U.S. intervention in Taiwan would be to protect that industry, and proposed that the U.S. invest in American semiconductor manufacturers such as Intel in order to combat that reliance, allowing it to stay out of a possible conflict.

"[74] In July, he called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a "bad actor" and said the U.S. should use its leverage to advocate for a bilateral ceasefire.

to augmented reality would save innocent lives and reduce suffering," and voicing the opinion that workers would be better off protesting the war in Afghanistan directly.

[95] Kunce supports investment in minority-serving institutions and historically black colleges and universities, and advocated for a federally funded student loan forgiveness program.

Steve Hendrick, who operates Shield Firearms Training in Kansas City, said a range of 10 yards or so would have been too close for an AR-15, given the gun's high velocity.

He cautioned that he wasn't present and had only reviewed photos of the event, but said, "Just as a general rule, it looked like they were way closer than they should have been if they were shooting steel".