Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., says he is in the fight of his political career, even in a state that hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate since the Great Depression.
Marshall faces Adam Hamilton, a megachurch pastor from the Church of the Resurrection who has positioned himself as a moderate, in a race that has moved from afterthought to toss-up in recent months. Speaking to Fox News Digital in Wichita hours before a rally by President Donald Trump in Park City, Marshall said the stakes go beyond his own seat.
“I think that, you know, I’m not a political expert, I’m a physician, but if we lose Kansas, I don’t see how we keep control of the Senate,” Marshall said. “And that’s why a vote for Adam Hamilton is a vote for Chuck Schumer and Democrat control of the Senate. It’s that simple.”
Republicans currently hold a 53-seat Senate majority they are trying to defend and expand. Kansas was not supposed to be part of that fight.
A Pastor With Name Recognition
Hamilton has led the Church of the Resurrection, one of Kansas’s largest congregations, for roughly three decades, giving him a level of statewide familiarity rare for a first-time Democratic candidate.
Don Haider-Markel, a political science professor at the University of Kansas, said the conditions this year favor Democrats more than at any point in recent memory. “I can’t imagine how factors could be any better for Democrats than they are this election cycle,” he told Fox News Digital. “The last time it seemed to be close at all was 2020, and that race ended up not being as close.”
In that 2020 race, Marshall won by nearly 12 points with Trump at the top of the ticket. Trump is not on the ballot this year, a fact he urged Kansans to set aside during his Park City rally. “In this election, I’m asking you to pretend please that I’m on the ballot,” Trump told the crowd. “Just pretend.”
Gas Prices and the Trump Factor
Marshall pointed to pocketbook issues, particularly fuel costs, as the reason his once-comfortable lead has narrowed.
“Look, it’s the price of gas, and I do feel people’s pain,” Marshall said. “Every year I go to all 105 counties, finish up the 105 counties in June, and as that price of gas went up, I felt more and more frustration.” He added, “So maybe we’re up 12 points before the Iran War, and as the price went up our poll numbers went down, so I think it’s the price of gas.”
Along the stretch between Hamilton’s base in Overland Park and Trump’s rally site in Wichita, gas station signs showed prices hovering just under $4 a gallon, with diesel running well over $6.
Nathaniel Birkhead, a political science professor at Kansas State University, said high fuel costs are only part of the story. He said Marshall’s close alignment with Trump, at a moment when “the Trump Brand is not particularly popular,” has opened a lane for Hamilton.
“So we have this kind of contrast of Hamilton benefiting from kind of a down year for Republicans. But then also, again, the fact that Marshall is really kind of tying himself to Trump rather than trying to kind of separate himself,” Birkhead said. “I think if this had been Jerry Moran running instead of Roger Marshall, I think it’d be far less competitive.”
Marshall has made clear he isn’t backing away from that alignment. He argues his path to victory runs directly through Trump’s most loyal supporters.
“Look, I’m the doctor always weighing the benefits and risks of everything. And I’m telling you, we don’t win this election without Trump voters getting out and voting,” Marshall said. “The majority of the undecideds are Trump supporters. And they need to hear from him, ‘Here’s the plan, and this is how we’re going to bring those prices back down, that if we leave Democrats in control, the price of the gas will never go down.'”
