Columbia Daily Tribune
Mon, January 16, 2023
December Harmon announced she is running for the U.S. Senate in 2024.
A Columbia community activist, self-described as a "foul-mouth, no-nonsense radical liberal," aims to make a change in Washington D.C.
December Harmon made the announcement Monday on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday that she is seeking a seat in the U.S. Senate in 2024, a move that could unseat Republican Sen. Josh Hawley if successful.
She said her aim is not to defeat Hawley, though, in her announcement, but to "fight the rise of fascism in America."
"I'm a millennial and I feel like the Nazi uprise — Charleston, Jan. 6, the book-banning, the people-banning (trans), the history banning (CRT), renewed state control of women — all happened under our watch. I believe we have a responsibility to fix it."
She currently is in a field of two against fellow Democrat Lucas Kunce, a U.S. Marine veteran who previously had sought the nomination in hopes of flipping the seat previously held by Roy Blunt, who retired from the Senate. He announced his candidacy on Jan. 6. He aims to unseat Hawley, as well.
He previously ran for the U.S. Senate last year, but was defeated in the primary in August by Democrat Trudy Busch Valentine, who herself would lose out on the seat to former Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt.
Harmon is known for her community activism as member of the Columbia Citizens Police Review Board, and speaking at abortion rights rallies in Columbia.
More: Rep. Cori Bush pushes for change at Columbia reproductive rights rally
"I saw corruption in our city government and in policing practices. ... I realized fighting white supremacy and fighting the government turned out to be the same thing," she said. "It's why I chose Martin Luther King Jr. Day to remind everyone of the fight that still is going on. The fight for freedom from oppression."
Harmon has a variety of issues she hopes to tackle in Washington, noting it as "The Playbook for Fighting Fascism" on her campaign website. Topics include police brutality and climate change, in support of the Green New Deal, along with codifying abortion access, gun control and among others.
She also would like to see the voting age lowered from 18 to 16.
"They work. They pay taxes. Why do young adults not have a say when they contribute their labor like everybody else?"
She said she is running because she felt "abandoned by the (Democratic) party in the name of civility. Now, I'm running for all the people the Democratic establishment left behind."
She recognizes her candidacy is an uphill battle of David versus Goliath proportions.
"I'm not rich. ... If we don't come together now to fight in 2024, for the Senate and the presidency, we might not get another chance," she said.
Harmon wants to be a new kind of a candidate for Missouri as a Christian, Black, lesbian, asexual woman, touting the New Left ideology.
"I'm the liberal Fox News warned you about," she said in the announcement.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Columbia activist announces U.S. Senate run to unseat Sen. Josh Hawley
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