Kansas Elects Its First Democratic Senator in 94 Years

Methodist minister Adam Hamiliton, a Democrat, has defeated Republican Roger Marshall in the race to represent Kansas in the U.S. Senate, ending a Democratic dry spell that has lasted nearly a century. 

The mild-mannered megachurch pastor, who has been registered as a Republican, a Democrat, and an Independent over the course of his lifetime, assembled a broad coalition of voters in the heartland state, en route to pulling off one of the most improbable wins of the year in a state Donald Trump carried by over 16 percent just two years ago.

Marshall sought to paint his rival, the founding pastor of the largest united Methodist church in the country,  as “too woke” and “too weak” to represent Kansas, but voters appeared receptive to Hamiliton’s brand of scripture-laced centrism. “I’m pretty sure if Jesus were here [Marshall would] consider him too woke,” Hamilton said during his campaign.

In 2020, Marshall was re-elected with a margin of more than 11 points. This year, a surprisingly strong challenge from Hamilton, a difficult environment for Republicans, and new reporting about Marshall’s aggressive efforts to recoup payment from patients he treated when he was a practicing OB-GYN proved too much for the GOP nominee to overcome. 

In polls throughout the election cycle, voters in Kansas consistently and overwhelmingly pointed to the economy as their top concern. In a state where nearly 90 percent of land is used for farming and ranching, the Republican candidate was damaged by the rising price of diesel gas — a side effect of the U.S. ongoing war with Iran — as well as the president’s decision to allow beef to be imported into the country at lower tariff rates.

Marshall, who was an OB-GYN before running for Senate, was hurt by the revelations that he had filed lawsuits against hundreds of patients who failed to pay their medical bills. The New York Times reported in September that at least 81 of Marshall’s patients were arrested for missing court dates related to their debts, including a pregnant woman with a 2-year-old daughter. That woman, Meischa Zimmerman, had been uninsured when Marshall delivered her child via a c-section in 2009; she was arrested three times as Marshall pursued payment.

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Marshall mounted a late effort to respond to the story in a commercial, reportedly filmed without the knowledge of some top aides, including some who had warned him it was a bad idea. He speaks directly to camera in the spot, confirming that he had asked collection agencies to pursue his patients’ debts, before adding “To be crystal clear, the Kansas Bill of Rights insures that no one can go to prison because of indebtedness — and I would never wish that on any patient I had the privilege to serve.”

Marshall told the Wall Street Journal that his only regret was not issuing a response earlier: “I would have been glad to put it out much, much sooner.” 
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In the end, neither the ad nor two visits a piece from President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance were enough to salvage Marshall’s reelection bid. During his latest visit to the state just days before the election, Trump called Hamilton a “perverted pastor,” but the newly elected senator took the insult in stride, pledging to work with the president regardless of the invective thrown his way.   

“Anything the president wants to do that’s good for the people of Kansas, I will be his best partner here,” Hamilton said.