As Sen. Josh Hawley attacks the policies of Democratic opponent Lucas Kunce, his rival’s campaign is arguing that Hawley actually has a history of taking policy cues from Kunce — and, they say, they have the emails to prove it.
Emails provided to NOTUS by a source on Kunce’s campaign show an unusual relationship with at least one former aide to Hawley during the senator’s current term, with Hawley’s staff welcoming Kunce’s policy advice on multiple occasions.
When Kunce emailed one of Hawley’s staff members with a set of questions for Hawley to ask during a military nominations hearing, the senator’s staff was appreciative.
“Lucas, These are great. Will let you know if any questions arise, and look forward to talking more soon otherwise. Thank you!” Alex Velez-Green, a former national security adviser to Hawley, wrote in a 2021 email to Kunce.
In another exchange, which took place in late February of that year, Kunce offered background and questions for an Armed Services hearing on emerging technologies.
“Lucas, Brilliant! Will read all with great interest. Also — phenomenal timing. Turning onto it this morning, in fact. Thank you again! Talk more soon,” Velez-Green answered.
It’s unclear if the talking points ever actually made it to Hawley’s desk, but the content from Kunce’s emails was similar to the comments and questions Hawley made and asked during these Senate hearings.
At the hearing on emerging technologies in 2021, Hawley mentioned the Pentagon’s AI initiative, Project Maven, alongside Boston Dynamics, an automated robotics company, as well as “the Robotics Collective,” seemingly referring to the Robotics Collaborative Technology Alliance. Kunce highlighted all of these in his email to Velez-Green, and Hawley was the only senator to bring them up.
In the same email ahead of that hearing, Kunce offered a potential question for Hawley to use: “What will you do to ensure we have a robust and diverse commercial contracting sector?”
Hawley ended up asking something in the same vein: “How can we ensure robust competition, so that we have a competitive market for emerging technologies that isn’t dominated by just a few big firms?”
In response to questions from NOTUS about Kunce’s relationship with Velez-Green and whether Hawley used Kunce’s information and questions during the hearing, Hawley campaign spokesperson Abigail Jackson made light of the exchanges.
“We want to thank Lucas for further proving our point that he’s a fan of Josh’s work in the Senate,” Jackson said. “It’s a wonder why he’s even running for the Senate — maybe he should just apply for a staff job in our office.”
Velez-Green, who left Hawley’s office in 2023 and is now a senior policy adviser with The Heritage Foundation, did not respond to a request for comment.
It’s common for outside stakeholders to advise Capitol Hill offices on policy and hearings. What’s uncommon is that a future Democratic opponent would be the one offering his rival advice. The relationship highlights a closer-than-expected relationship between two opponents who seem to be arguing that they are worlds apart on policy.
In a statement to NOTUS, Kunce’s campaign manager, Caleb Cavarretta, accused Hawley of using Kunce’s ideas “for years.”
The emails Kunce sent Hawley’s former aide were in his capacity as director of national security at the American Economic Liberties Project, an anti-monopoly think tank, at which Kunce worked from August 2020 until January 2023.
The earliest of the emails provided to NOTUS show that Kunce connected with Velez-Green shortly after taking his director role at AELP, when Kunce was working on a piece called “The China Hack” for The American Prospect.
Kunce sent Velez-Green a link to it once it was published. And Velez-Green’s response indicates their exchanges weren’t limited to email correspondence.
“I’m so sorry for having to jump as quickly as I did earlier and then not calling back in a timely manner. My chief had something that required immediate attention,” Velez-Green said in an email. “As I said on the phone, though, congratulations again on a great article. I’d love to stay in touch on this, as your thinking evolves. In particular, please let me know if you’re doing anything else on legislative solutions.”
Hawley is heavily favored to win in November — an August poll from YouGov has him leading by 11 percentage points — even though Kunce has outraised Hawley by more than $2 million this cycle.
Despite the race’s uncompetitiveness, it hasn’t been without drama. In late August, Hawley confronted Kunce at the Missouri State Fair, attempting to debate him on the spot.
This also isn’t the first time Kunce has tried for a Senate seat. In 2022, Kunce competed to become the Democratic nominee to replace Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri. He launched his first failed campaign in March 2021, weeks after sending those emails to Velez-Green.
—
Ben T.N. Mause is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.