Kansas Senate race on razor’s edge as Democrats aim to end 94 years of Republican dominance | Kansas

J.Just two years after Donald Trump won Kansas by 16 points in his fight to win back the White House, the state’s Republicans are scrambling to maintain their dominance. The battle for one of his two U.S. Senate seats is too close to call, setting the stage for a potentially extraordinary upset.

Some recent polls even put Democrat Adam Hamilton on track for a historic victory. Kansans have not sent a party representative to the U.S. Senate since 1932.

On the campaign trail, Hamilton regularly names one of his state’s most famous residents: Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. Recalling a visit he made to Liberal, Kansas, and its Oz Museum, he asks the audience to remember what Dorothy’s companions need on her journey. The lion needed courage, the scarecrow a brain, and the tin man a heart.

Washington needs more of all three, he says, and it can deliver. He decided to run for office after seeing the Trump administration act in ways that were “not good, not kind, not compassionate, not humble,” Hamilton told — with the energetic cadence of the pastor that he is — to a crowd of business leaders in Topeka on Friday. He expected Roger Marshall, the outgoing Republican state senator, to defend the interests of his state and its people.

“I was having arguments with Roger Marshall in the shower. He wasn’t in the shower with me,” Hamilton joked. “And I would just say, Roger, please stand up for your people. You were not hired to be a spokesperson for the White House. You were hired to fight for your people.”

Hamilton’s role as senior pastor of the nation’s largest United Methodist congregation comes with name recognition and speaking skills. But Marshall’s record as an opponent—namely, suing hundreds of his patients for unpaid bills, leading to the arrest of dozens of them—greatly contributed to Hamilton’s chances of overturning the siege.

He willingly and frequently shares the stories of everyday Kansans he met on the road to the U.S. Senate, from the woman whose health insurance premiums cost as much as her mortgage so she had to drop her coverage, to the farmer who cried about the state of the industry for young farmers.

Electorally, he is trying to convince independents and Republicans, calling himself an independent Democrat. It would help, he told business leaders last week, if Kansas had a Democrat like him and a Republican in Jerry Moran to represent them in the U.S. Senate — working on both sides of the aisle.

In a video welcoming Trump to Kansas, Hamilton said he hoped the president would hear from people across Kansas who are struggling with rising costs and uncertainty. But, he told Kansans, they all had a place in his campaign, no matter who they voted for or their party affiliation.

“I’m running to defend the interests of the people of Kansas: Republicans, Democrats and Independents. I won’t answer to any party, and I won’t answer to anyone in Washington,” he said in the video. “I answer you.”

In Topeka, Kansas voters were open to debate. Several participants at the Hamilton forum on Friday had participated in a similar forum with Marshall earlier in the day. Before and after the event, Hamilton circulated among the crowd of a few dozen voters, shaking hands and taking photos. Voters said they appreciated its accessibility, although some wanted more specific answers.

Brennen Ross, a 20-year-old political science and economics student at Washburn University in Topeka, watched Marshall earlier in the day, then came to see Hamilton. The national attention to Kansas now is “extremely exciting” for a state often better known for its sports teams, he said.

He is an unaffiliated voter, who leans Hamilton. The cost of housing, the job market for people his age and the availability of water in rural Kansas all weigh on his mind, he said. The first issue he mentioned, however, was Hamilton’s effort to “lower the temperature” amid growing political polarization.

“It’s really compelling, and it resonates with a lot of Kansans, especially a lot of young Kansans that I talk to about this election,” Ross said.

Jacinta Bergkamp, ​​a 30-year-old Democrat who is part of a group of young professionals called Forge Young Talent, asked Hamilton and Marshall about housing affordability at each of their events. She said affordability is of great importance to young people. Women’s rights and access to abortion also count for her vote.

Bergkamp, ​​wearing a shirt that read “Vote damn it,” found Democratic interest in Kansas “encouraging” and said Kansans seemed to be “fed up” with what they were experiencing, with more people willing to denounce their representatives and hold them accountable.

“Usually, I guess, you feel a little lonely” being a Democrat in Kansas, she said. “We still think of Kansas as purple. Kansas is neither red nor blue…It’s very clear that Kansas is more liberal than people outside of Kansas think.”

Linda Murphy Maina, owner of a shop in Topeka called Linda’s Afrikan Kreations, said she was looking for which candidates were good for people and how they could serve the community. On some questions, she wanted more direct answers, but she felt Hamilton was focused on collaboration and helping people. “I’m still doing some research, but it tickled my fancy,” she said.

Susana Ortiz, a counselor who has a private practice in Topeka, said her experience in mental health means she seeks out candidates who will be the best fit for her clients. She doesn’t expect candidates to have all the answers, but they must show they care about people and are willing to accept public input on their decisions.

Ortiz is still deciding who to vote for. “It seems like more and more people are expressing frustration with the rising cost of living,” she said. “And so they’re looking for solutions, and I think that allows people to be a little more open-minded and maybe vote across party lines.”

Hamilton, working to convince the politically mixed public to take a chance with a Democrat, told Topeka business leaders that he didn’t think Marshall had done a good job listening to the people. He noted that the last time Marshall held an open town hall meeting was about 600 days ago, when he left City Hall after facing pointed questions. (Marshall said town halls have become “unproductive and dangerous.”)

Hamilton doesn’t have many superpowers, he told the crowd. He can’t sing, he’s bad at golf, he was a horrible football player. His superpower, he says, is that he really listens and cares, and has a “propensity to fight for people.”

“I’m going to fight like hell for the people of Kansas,” he said.