Come November 8, Missouri will almost certainly vote for Donald Trump, going red for the fifth cycle in a row. But despite Trump’s dominance in the state—he has an ironclad lead of about eight points—Missouri is also on the verge of electing a second Democrat to the Senate: 35-year-old Jason Kander.

He has a sterling political resume. After the planes hit the Twin Towers on September 11, Kander, the son of a cop, enlisted in the Army and was sent to Afghanistan as an intelligence officer charged with rooting out corruption and drug trafficking. After eight years in the military, he served four in the state house and two as secretary of state. He has a solid record, a photogenic three-year-old, and a military discipline on the campaign trail that has helped him avoid gaffes and slip-ups.



He has also shown a knack for grabbing the national spotlight. An ad released in September of Kander assembling an AR-15 blindfolded while talking about gun safety and his commitment to the Second Amendment went viral (at least as far as political ads go). The ad perfectly summed up Kander’s appeal: It is decidedly bipartisan, advocating for “common sense” reforms while protecting the integrity of the right to own guns. Democrats were happy to see Kander advocating for increased gun safety legislation, while Republicans can be reassured that Kander will give them a voice.

And in many ways, he is the ideal candidate to face off against Senator Roy Blunt. A Republican incumbent whose messy divorce is still political grist in Jefferson City, he has four children who all work on K Street and is now married to a woman regularly named one of the “top corporate lobbyists in Washington.” In an era when mistrust of Washington elites is at an all-time high, that makes Blunt vulnerable to the likes of Kander, a clean-cut veteran whose work in both Afghanistan and Missouri has revolved around anti-corruption. Kander has undercut Blunt’s most important asset—his undisputed ability to bring resources back to Missouri—by suggesting that Blunt can only bring home the bacon because he has ingratiated himself in a corrupt system. As a result, Blunt has had to graft himself to Donald Trump, whose popularity among conservative voters is his best shot at another term.



Kander, an incredibly energetic campaigner and fundraiser, has had luck break his way. Because other Senate races—most notably in Florida and Ohio—have been less competitive than expected, the Democratic Party has pointed both resources and enthusiasm toward Kander that might not otherwise have been there. The Democratic National Committee in September allocated an additional $1.5 million for pro-Kander advertising in the state, and that month saw Kander pull ahead of Blunt even as Hillary Clinton’s support was eroding nationally. They are now neck-and-neck. “Jason is young, smart, disciplined, driven, an attractive candidate,” said one former state legislator who knows both candidates. “He’s made no mistakes that I can see in the last year and a half.”