ST. LOUIS—Independent Senate candidate Jared Young continues to share his vision of giving Missouri a third viable option.
Young said in these last few months before the election, they have noticed more people starting to pay attention to his campaign.
"We knew all along that these last two months are the time that really people really start paying attention to the campaign," Young said in an interview with The St. Louis Record. "The past year that we've been working on this, all of it was just building a foundation and getting ready to take advantage of the attention that we knew would be put on the campaigns during these last two months, and we've really seen that over the last three or four weeks, both the media and the voters are really starting to pay attention. Our activity is naturally picking up."
Young said he's been getting more attention and just seeing that momentum pick up with voters and supporters and he is feeling good about how he is positioned heading into the election on Nov. 5.
"Obviously it's still an uphill battle, still a lot of work to do, but we still feel like the path is there and we're working hard every day to be able to pursue the path," Young said.
Last month, former long-time Sen. John Danforth announced he was endorsing Young in the race, which features incumbent Republican Josh Hawley and Democratic challenger Lucas Kunce.
Danforth, a prominent Republican, served as ambassador to the United Nations after representing Missouri in the U.S. Senate from 1976 until 1995.
"He's kind of a Titan of Republican politics in Missouri, so getting his endorsement was a big boost to the campaign and obviously helped us get some good media coverage," Young said. "But he was also one of the primary boosters of Josh Hawley when Josh Hawley first ran in 2018. So, the fact that one of the people responsible for getting Josh Hawley into office is actively endorsing and supporting one of Josh Hawley's opponents is obviously a big deal for us."
Young said Danforth, is focused on the core principles that defined the Republican Party in the past and that the Republican Party has sort of walked away from now.
"He sees me as someone who still stands for those principles that he holds near and dear, which is why he was willing to endorse me," Young said. "Obviously that's generated attention and open doors for us and we're excited about that."
Young is also gearing up for the first debate for the Missouri U.S. senate candidates, which will be held Sept. 20.
"It is not clear yet whether Josh Hawley is going to show up, but Lucas Kunce will be there," Young said. "So that'll be a good boost and some good visibility for the campaign."
Young also said their recent campaign to bring Missourians from both sides together through baseball was a big hit.
The objective of the campaign, called United Seats of America, was to communicate the need to focus more on what Missourians have in common than what divides them — an objective that the two parties are fighting against with their divisiveness.
"It was a great experience in both cases," Young said. "It worked out just how we expected. We had these very different people sit down, spend a few hours together and walk away as friends."
Young said those who won the tickets discussed hard topics and and didn't necessarily persuade each other to change their minds at all, but were able to have good civil conversations and walk away just really feeling like they got some new perspective and and have a new friend to sees the world differently from themselves.
"It's been a great way to to just drive home the message that we've been saying all along that we're all more similar than we are different," Young said.