President Trump heads to Kansas on Monday to campaign for Republican candidates, but farmers unhappy with White House policies could help flip the U.S. Senate seat that Republicans have held for nearly a century.
Transcription
JOEL ROSE, HOST:
President Trump is campaigning tomorrow in a place where a reliable Republican Senate seat is suddenly up for grabs: Kansas. Sen. Roger Marshall is in a surprisingly close race against Democrat Adam Hamilton. Frank Morris of member station KCUR reports that farmers who typically vote Republican could decide the outcome.
FRANK MORRIS, BYLINE: Stephen Kalb would rather harvest his corn and soybean fields near Wellsville, Kansas, but instead he’s repairing a broken combine, and the worn part won’t come off.
STEPHEN KALB: I’ll take the longest lever first, then we’ll get the cheater’s pipe.
MORRIS: (Laughter).
(SOUNDBITE OF CLANG METAL)
KALB: At least it’s not dark yet.
MORRIS: Kalb is a handyman and he works long hours, but there are a lot of things in farming he can’t fix. Tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump have increased the prices of farm equipment and some agricultural chemicals. His attack on Iran has driven up fertilizer and diesel prices. Kalb’s expenses therefore multiplied. Meanwhile, Trump’s trade wars have reduced export markets for Kalb’s crops, reducing his revenue.
KALB: It’s really concerning. I believe in a global economy. But now it seems things can change overnight.
MORRIS: Kalb says the government has collapsed.
KALB: Maybe the checks and balances aren’t there. If there are supposed to be three branches of government, we are concerned about who is currently aligned with just one.
MORRIS: Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall is clearly aligned with President Trump. Normally, that would be a big plus in Kansas, where farmers have long relied on Republicans to defend their interests. But Alexandra Middlewood, a political science professor at Wichita State University, says this year is different.
ALEXANDRA MIDDLEWOOD: I think Kansas farmers and ranchers may currently be the group that is having the hardest time voting this election year.
MORRIS: Marshall faces Democrat Adam Hamilton, the pastor of a United Methodist megachurch who until earlier this year was himself a Republican. Normally, this wouldn’t be much of a competition. Trump has easily won Kansas in every presidential election he has run in. But farmer Merrill Nielsen, a lifelong Republican raised by lifelong Republicans on the land his great-grandfather owned near Little Denmark, Kansas, says times have changed.
MERRILL NIELSEN: We just have a different situation than we had before, and we have different parties than we had. So this is a whole new situation.
MORRIS: Nielsen is missing pragmatic, moderate Republicans, people open to compromise and cooperation to get things done.
NIELSEN: I think Marshall is a result of the current policy of thinking that you have a message to send rather than a function to perform.
MORRIS: There’s also some personal stuff. As a doctor in a small Kansas town, Marshall sued hundreds of patients for medical debts, sending dozens of them to prison. His only home in the state is now a detached one-bedroom cabin worth less than the price of a new camper.
MIDDLEWOOD: I mean, people are very proud to be Kansans.
MORRIS: It’s Alexandra Middlewood again.
MIDDLEWOOD: And having a representative who doesn’t live in the state most of the time, or maybe not at all, isn’t it – I don’t know – it certainly goes against state pride.
MORRIS: Marshall also has problems with Kansas ranchers. He remained silent when Trump unleashed trade wars that hurt U.S. beef exports and lifted tariffs on some beef imports, driving down cattle prices and infuriating ranchers. The Kansas Livestock Association withdrew its approval. Many farmers largely like Marshall’s record, but Stephen Kalb says he’s too beholden to Trump.
KALB: But, you know, I don’t know if I was supposed to send anyone to Washington, D.C., to support a president. I thought they were supposed to support me.
MORRIS: As it stands, the Kansas Senate race is a toss-up. And in a state where huge homemade Trump signs dot farm fields, Trump could now harm the Republican nominee with farmers. For NPR News, I’m Frank Morris in Kansas City.
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