ST. LOUIS – FOX 2’s Hancock and Kelley Politics team offered “before” and “after” debate analysis as part of our in-depth coverage of Debate Night in Missouri, the U.S. Senate race.

Republican consultant John Hancock (right) and Democratic consultant Michael Kelley (left) opined that the campaign’s exclusive, only televised one-on-one debate, broadcast exclusively nationally by Nexstar Media, had a “testy” start to it incumbent Republican Senator Josh Hawley and Democratic challenger Lucas Kunce.

Hancock thought Hawley scored points on economic issues and Kunce’s refusal to support his party’s presidential nominee, Kamala Harris.

Kelley believed Kunce successfully fended off Hawley’s attack last week on an incident at the shooting range in which a news reporter suffered a minor graze wound to his arm when Kunce fired a rifle at a target. Kunce turned the tables by focusing on Hawley’s actions before and during the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Hancock and Kelley agreed that voters would benefit from a substantive debate on key issues and that neither candidate had a defining moment in the race, which came just five days after the debate, Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024. will be decided.

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