ST. LOUIS — Candidates in one of the highest profile political races in the country have agreed to a live televised debate. You can see incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Josh Hawley and Democratic candidate Lucas Kunce spar on October 31, 2024.
The debate will air on Missouri Nexstar stations, including KTVI/KPLR-St. Louis, WDAF-Kansas City, KRBK-Springfield and KSN-Joplin and their digital platforms. Nexstar Media, Inc. aims to host balanced and accessible debates featuring the candidates. This effort is part of the company’s commitment to informing the public and helping voters make well-informed choices in elections.
The debate has been a contentious issue between the candidates. In August, Hawley and Kunce clashed face-to-face at the Missouri State Fair over debate terms. This was after daring each other to a televised debate on social media.
Hawley confirmed the formal acceptance of the debate in a post to X on Wednesday morning. It includes a dig at his opponent in the post:
“Thanks to the Nexstar Media Group for offering to host a televised #MOSen debate broadcast statewide. I accept! The Nexstar Media Group also offered to broadcast our State Fair debate – and Lucas Kunce ran off. Will he show up to this one? “
“I accepted this invitation over a week ago. They pushed their date back from Oct 8th to Oct 31st BECAUSE you ignored their previous invitation. And you’ve still refused to accept any other televised debate offers — I’ve called for 5. Why do you have to always lie to Missouri?” writes Kunce on X.
A Emerson College/The Hill/Nexstar poll released Tuesday shed some light on Missouri voter support for the candidates. Hawley is up 11 points (51% to 40%) over Kunce. Although the Democratic challenger’s team may argue that the race is tighter than that with access to reproductive rights on the same ballot this November.
